Page 32 - Sotheby's London Important Chinese Art Nov. 2019

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PROPERTY FROM AN ENGLISH NOBLE COLLECTION her dreams. These figurative pillows were thus believed to
A RARE LARGE JADEITE ‘BOY’ HEADREST both aid in the onset of pregnancy and positively influence
QING DYNASTY mothers’ dreams, see Ann Barrott Wicks, Children in
Chinese Art, Honolulu, 2002, p. 12.
the smiling figure kneeling and resting forward on his A closely related jadeite boy pillow from the collection of
elbows with the head raised and turned slightly to one side, Mr. H. Whitaker was included in the exhibition Catalogue of
holding a sheng in one hand and lotus stems in the other a Collection of Objects of Chinese Art, Burlington Fine Arts
extending over his shoulders to a large leaf covering his Club, London, 1915, pl. XIII (top); a pair was sold twice in
back forming the surface of the pillow, the stone of striated out Hong Kong rooms, 2nd December 1976, lot 726, and
apple-green colour with mottling and some long flaws again, 18th November 1986, lot 193, from the collection
Length 30.3 cm, 11⅞ in. of T.Y. Chao; and a smaller pair of pillows was sold at
Christie’s New York, 21st September 2004, lot 118.
PROVENANCE
Sir Ernest Cassel (1852-1921), London. Compare also a smaller green jade pillow in the form
Thence by descent. of a boy, from the collection of Heber R. Bishop in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no.
EXHIBITED 02.18.426.
International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Art, 31cm long
London, 1935, cat. no. 2873.
£ 100,000-150,000
This jadeite pillow has been deftly carved in the form HK$ 980,000-1,470,000 US$ 125,000-188,000
of a plump kneeling boy from an exceptionally large
jadeite boulder of brilliant and variegated green tone. 清 翠玉雕連生貴子枕
Pillows in the form of boys originated in the Song dynasty
(960-1279), when they were given as wedding gifts to 來源
newly wedded couples. They represented the wish for 歐內斯特· 卡塞爾爵士（1852-1921年）收藏，
the continuation of the family line and the birth of male 此後家族傳承
offspring. The scholar Sun Simiao (581-682) in his Beiji
qianjin yaofang [Prescriptions worth a thousand, for every 展覽
emergency], expresses the widespread belief that the sex 《中國藝術國際展覽會》， 英國皇家藝術學院，
of foetuses could be influenced by the expectant mother 倫敦， 1935年，編號2873
through what she saw and ate, her emotions as well as

International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat. no. 2873
Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat. no. 2873 © Photographed by A. C. Cooper Ltd., London
© Royal Academy of Art

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