Page 44 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2014

2096 2100
A SMALL WHITE JADE FIGURE OF LIU HAI TWO RETICULATED HARDSTONE PLAQUES
18th/19th century The first of translucent golden brown agate, undercut and incised on
Depicted as a smiling boy raising a long string of cash over his right both sides with the identical design of a crested bird with long scrolling
shoulder while his three-legged toad perches upon it, the details tail feathers arching over its head, the stone shaded from pale to dark
deeply undercut and the surfaces polished to a soft luster; the off- golden brown at the top of the plaque; the second of translucent
white matrix marked with some natural hairline fissures and tiny lavender-blue chalcedony, carved to both sides as a chilong crawling
russet-stained veins along one side. atop an oval-sectioned bi, its tail passing through the center aperture
2 3/8in (6.2cm) high and a squirrel crawling beneath it, the stone marked with lacy white
$1,000 - 1,500 patches and natural depressions.
2 1/8in (5.5cm) height of each plaque
2097 $1,500 - 2,000
AN OVAL NEPHRITE PLAQUE WITH GOLDFISH DECORATION
Qing dynasty 2101
Thinly sectioned and convex in form, possibly meant as a center A SMALL WHITE JADE CENSER AND COVER
plaque to a ruyi scepter with three goldfish swimming amid water Of elongated quadrilobate form and well-hollowed with rounded
weeds carved in delicate raised relief across the highly polished front, surfaces raised on four cabriole legs, loose rings hanging from the
the concave reverse cut with four drilled loops for fastening to another loop handles topped by animal heads at each end, the conforming
surface, the pale gray-green matrix displaying a natural surface fissure cover reticulated with a recumbent dragon that forms the finial, the
and cloudy white inclusions. matrix of translucent creamy white hue showing an opaque vein
4 3/8in (11.2cm) high through one of the legs; with fitted wood display stand.
$2,000 - 3,000 3 7/8in (9.7cm) length across handles
4in (10cm) height overall including wood stand
PROPERTY FROM VARIOUS OWNERS $5,000 - 7,000

2098 2102
TWO ARCHAISTIC HARDSTONE CARVINGS A GROUP OF FIVE JADE PLAQUES OF RUYI LAPPET FORM
The first imitating a Neolithic cong with circular drill hole through the The first of icy white with pale green veins worked on both sides as
center, the four extruding corners carved and incised with two masks a stylized butterfly, inscribed with the characters fu gui chang ming
arranged one above the other, the opaque matrix of dark yellow- (chipped); the second of mottled greenish-white and russet, line-
brown hue with natural fissure lines; the second a massive but thinly incised on one side with a peach branch and on the other with a
sectioned ring of mottled black and white hue, the gentle convex lotus flower (chipped); the third of mottled blue-green hue, incised
faces carved in relief with diagonal recesses (rough rim). on both sides with flowering branches; the fourth of pale gray-green
2 1/4in (5.8cm) height of cong lock shape, deeply undercut and finished on both sides with bats
10in (25.5cm) diameter of ring separated by an endless knot; the fifth of mottled green and white lock
$800 - 1,200 shape, summarily incised with a sun, fish and waves reversed by the
characters yong bao (chipped).
2099 2 3/4 to 4in (7 to 10cm) wide
TWO RETICULATED JADE CIRCULAR PLAQUES $800 - 1,200
The first of off-white hue, undercut and incised on each side as a
parrot nesting amid a basket filled with lotus flowers, now attached 2103
with metal rings at the base to a jadeite teardrop pendant and A GROUP OF EIGHT SMALL JADE CARVINGS
above on a silk cord with various other bone and glass beads to Including two carved as mushroom groups; one plaque in the form
form a necklace; the second of spinach jade, finished on both of leafy beans; the fourth carved as a lotus pod and a bird; the fifth a
sides with fish swimming in waves that frame a movable roundel small belt hook with a dragon head facing a cicada; the sixth a toggle
reticulated as a shou medallion. worked as a leafy melon group and decorated with a bug; the seventh
2 and 2 1/8in (5 and 5.5cm) diameters an openwork plaque carved with a double happiness character
$1,000 - 1,500 beneath a butterfly; the last a small animal group.
2 3/4 x 1 1/2in (7 x 3.8cm) the double happiness plaque
$1,000 - 1,500

42 | BONHAMS