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Published Piece: Aquamarine Carving, Ex. Herb and Monika Obodda Collection image 1
Published Piece: Aquamarine Carving, Ex. Herb and Monika Obodda Collection image 2
Published Piece: Aquamarine Carving, Ex. Herb and Monika Obodda Collection image 3
Published Piece: Aquamarine Carving, Ex. Herb and Monika Obodda Collection image 4
Published Piece: Aquamarine Carving, Ex. Herb and Monika Obodda Collection image 5
Lot 1416

Published Piece: Aquamarine Carving, Ex. Herb and Monika Obodda Collection

26 – 27 October 2020, 11:00 PDT
Los Angeles

Sold for US$18,825 inc. premium

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Published Piece: Aquamarine Carving, Ex. Herb and Monika Obodda Collection

Carved By Hing Wa Lee, San Gabriel, California, USA
Circa 1978
Afghanistan

Carved from a single large specimen of aquamarine, to depict three Foo Lions at play with balls, this exceptional sculpture has strong saturation of its unenhanced blue color. Weighing approximately 3,502.5 carats (700.5 grams) and measuring 4 ½ x 3 ¼ x 3 in Height with wooden stand: 6 in

Footnotes

Provenance: Ex. Herb and Monika Obodda Collection

Accompanied by a copy of Lapidary Journal Magazine, March 1983, where the aquamarine carving was featured in an article about the gemstone carvings of Hing Wa Lee. Herb Obodda obtained the rough used in this commissioned work in Afghanistan.



Hing Wa Lee
In 1965, at the age of 18, Hing Wa Lee graduated to become a Master Gem Carver. He started his own factory exporting gemstone carvings worldwide to great acclaim. His first factory was named Hing Wa Lee San Wu Jade Workshop, located in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Even at that time he was considered to be a great, modern day master of gemstone carving. Moving to the United States in the 1970s, he was enlisted to work on restoring jade carvings at the Smithsonian Institute. This helped to establish his reputation in the United States. In 1980, He opened a gallery in Los Angeles, California, selling to the growing Chinese-American market in southern California.

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