
Juliette Hammer
Sale Coordinator
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Sold for £19,200 inc. premium
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Specialist, Chinese Works of Art

Head of Chinese and Asian Art, London
清 沉香木念珠手串 配盒
Aloeswood (chenxiang, 沉香) bead rosaries were highly prized in Qing dynasty China, valued both for their exquisite fragrance and their association with Buddhist devotion, Imperial status, and literati refinement. The beads were often strung into nianzuo (念珠) or Buddhist rosaries, used for meditation and prayer. Aloeswood, imported from Southeast Asia, was among the most expensive materials of the time, signifying wealth and spiritual cultivation. Qing emperors and high-ranking officials frequently commissioned such rosaries, sometimes incorporating gold or jade separators, as seen in surviving palace collections. See for example one wood rosary, Qing dynasty, illustrated in A Garland of Treasures: Masterpieces of Precious Crafts in the Museum Collection, Taipei, 2014, p.84, no.11-48.
See a similar Chenxiangmu beaded bracelet in a tin box, Qing dynasty, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2019, lot 678.