WITH BUDDHIST LIONS, CHINA, QING DYNASTY, 18TH-19TH CENTURY (4) In very good condition, only very minute nicks to the extremities Provenance: private property of a northern Italian gentleman 5,5 cm max high, 9,5 cm max wide A dense variety of nacrite, which is traded in China as a gemstone and is used for carvings. The material consists mainly of nacrite, but may also contain minor illite or dickite in varying proportions. The most valuable variety consists of golden yellow nacrite with a coating of colorless, transparent to semi-transparent dickite. This material is only known from the Banlian gravel beds near Shoushan, Fuzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province. The Chinese consider Tianhuang stone as a variety of Shoushan stone although true Shoushan stone mainly consists of pyrophyllite. Lot with no reserve/ offerta libera