A FINELY CARVED BAMBOO 'TWO LADIES' PARFUMIER 清代 竹雕’大乔、小乔‘香筒及后配樱木、红木址底座 China, Qing dynasty The exterior carved in deep relief and pierced to reserve a terraced garden landscape scene of two ladies, each dressed in voluminous robes and their hair arranged in high chignons, one gracefully holding a fan, the other bearing a ruyi sceptre, both admiring a cluster of orchids and a towering Taihu rock, set against a backdrop of a stone balustrade and a stone stool within a lush garden shaded by tall, flourishing pine trees. A two-tier pedestal of cherry wood and rosewood, later constructed and attached to the back left, not contemporaneous with the incense tube. H.18.4cm - H.(total)34cm NOTE The two ladies depicted here are idealized representations of the famous beauties of the Han dynasty, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao, daughters of Qiao Xuan. Their legendary beauty and marriages are immortalized in the classical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi), where their unions were cited as key motivations behind Cao Cao's southern campaign, culminating in the historic Battle of the Red Cliffs.