Page 73 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art June 2015 Hong Kong

32 The present lot would have graced the desk of a high ranking official
A RARE LARGE GREY AND PALE GREEN JADE ‘LOTUS LEAF’ or scholar, reminding the owner of the lotus’s famed ability to remain
BRUSHWASHER ‘unstained by the muddy surrounding’. Scholar-officials who refused
17th/18th century to compromise their integrity liked to compare themselves with the
Finely carved as a deeply hollowed vessel in the form of a large lotus purity of the lotus, symbolism further imbued with its Buddhist religious
leaf, incised with veins elegantly rising up to the curved foliate rim, all significance and association. The swallow, carved on one side of
borne on leafy winding stems issuing a large lotus blossom on one the washer, symbolises the heralding of good fortune to come and a
side, the reverse with a lone swallow in flight with its head turned prosperous change for the better.
backwards, the greyish-pale-green stone with russet inclusions,
wood stand. Compare a related pale green jade lotus washer, 18th century, from
26.2cm (10 3/8in) wide (2). the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by M.Wilson,
Chinese Jades, London, 2004, pl.56; for another related washer, Qing
HK$180,000 - 240,000 dynasty, from the Qing Court Collection, see The Complete Collection
US$23,000 - 31,000 of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (II), Hong Kong, 2008,
pl.39. A related but smaller white and dark grey jade ‘lotus leaf’
十七/十八世紀 青灰玉雕荷葉洗 brushwasher, 17th/18th century (21.1cm wide), sold at Christie’s New
York, 19-20 September 2013, lot 1739.
Provenance 來源:
Acquired from Louis Joseph, London (label, no.6793) 倫敦維多利亞阿爾伯博物館藏一件十八世紀青玉荷葉洗可資比較，見
An English private collection and thence by descent M.Wilson，《Chinese Jades》，倫敦，2004年，圖版56；另見清宮
舊藏一例，著錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：玉器（II）》，香
購自倫敦古董商Louis Joseph (附標籤，編號6793） 港，2008年，圖版39；另一件例子，可見紐約佳士得，2013年9月19
英國私人收藏，並由家族繼承 至20日，拍品1739。

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