Page 36 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art June 2015 Hong Kong

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A VERY FINE PALE GREEN JADE CARVING OF A FINGER
CITRON
Qianlong
The fruit naturalistically carved with thick curling tendrils issuing from a
gnarled stem with curling leaves and a smaller finger citron to one side,
the interior deeply hollowed, the stone of a soft pale green tone with an
attractive polish, wood stand.
16.2cm (6 3/8in) high (2).

HK$250,000 - 400,000
US$32,000 - 52,000

清乾隆 青白玉雕佛手擺件

Provenance 來源:
S.Marchant & Son Ltd., London
An English private collection

倫敦古董商S.Marchant & Son Ltd.
英國私人收藏

The Chinese name for the fruit, 佛手 foshou, is also a pun meaning 「佛手」與「福壽」二字諧音，有增福添壽的寓意，也為清宮常見之
福 fu ‘blessings’ or 福 fu ‘riches’, followed by 壽 shou ‘longevity’. In 題材。
addition, the finger citron fruit was thought to resemble the hand of
Buddha, with its idealised, lotus-shaped ‘fingers’. This association 清宮舊藏一件玉佛手可作比較，見《故宮博物院藏品大系：玉器編9》
with Buddha, combined with its strong, pleasant fragrance, made it a ，北京，2011年，編號159；另見一例藏於倫敦維多利亞及阿爾伯
suitable altar offering to celebrate the New Year. 博物館，著錄於M.Wilson，《Chinese Jades》，倫敦，2004年，頁
52，編號51；再參考R.Keverne編，《Jade》，倫敦，1995年，頁
These numerous associations also made the fruit a popular subject 165，圖94；另一件十八世紀的例子藏於佛羅里達州大學Samuel P.
matter for artists, and several examples can be found in important Harn藝術博物館，見C.Q.Mason著，《Spinach Green and Mutton-fat
museum and private collections. An example from the Qing Court White: Chinese Jades of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)》，蓋恩斯維
Collection, is illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace 爾，2006年，頁40。
Museum: Jade 9: Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, no.159. Another pale
green jade finger citron vase from the Victoria and Albert Museum, 另對比一件十七/十八世紀的玉雕佛手，參見R.Kleiner著，《Chinese
London, is illustrated by M.Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman》，香港，
p.52, no.51, where the author notes that such jade vases would have 1996年，圖版202，後來拍賣於香港佳士得，2006年11月28日，拍
been considered visually more attractive than the natural fruit, and 品1396。
that powdered incense would have been placed in the vase cavity
to replicate the natural fragrance. A further example is illustrated by
R.Keverne, ed., Jade, London, 1995, p.165, fig.94; and see another
related example, 18th century, from the Samuel P. Harn Museum of
Art, University of Florida, illustrated by C.Q.Mason in Spinach Green
and Mutton-fat White: Chinese Jades of the Qing Dynasty (1644-
1911), Gainesville, Florida, 2006, p.40.

Compare also a related jade finger citron carving, 17th/18th century,
illustrated by R.Kleiner in Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan
and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pl.202, later sold at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1396.

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