Page 27 - Christie's Fine Jade the LZJ Collection NYC September 21, 2023

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AN EXTREMELY FINE WHITE AND RUSSET JADE CARVING 宋 元 白褐玉℉翼鳥
OF PAIRED LOVEBIRDS
Ϝ源
SONG-YUAN DYNASTY (AD 960-1368)
ぬ姆斯
及瑪麗蓮
阿ḓ斯૨夫伉儷珍藏
芝؟哥
The pair is formed as two lovebirds joined at the sides, with heads turned towards each other
埃斯卡納齊
і敦
年 月 日
and beaks touching. The feathers are finely incised and the tucked legs are well delineated.
-+;珍藏
美४
A tiny inscription is etched onto the edge of the right bird's tail, reading Xiuneisi yu zuo suo
(the imperial jade workshop of Xiuneisi). The white stone with satiny polish is of even tone 展覽
and has patches of brown accenting the birds' heads. 芝؟哥
芝؟哥藝術Ц樂部
Ǚ$IJOFTF "SU
GSPN UIF $PMMFDUJPO PG +BNFT 8 BOE
2¡ in. (6 cm.) long, cloth box .BSJMZOO "MTEPSGǚ
年 月 日 月
日
$80,000-120,000
֨ḛ
+ 7 4FXFMM
Ǘ$IJOFTF "SU GSPN UIF
PROVENANCE:
$PMMFDUJPO PG +BNFT 8 BOE .BSJMZOO
James W. (1913-1990) and Marilynn B. (1926-2019) Alsdorf Collection, Chicago.
"MTEPSGǘ
芝؟哥
年
編號+
Eskenazi Ltd., London, 12 December 1994.
埃斯卡納齊
Ǘ" %FBMFS T )BOE 5IF
The LJZ Collection, United States.
$IJOFTF "SU 8PSME UISPVHI UIF &ZFT PG
EXHIBITED: (JVTFQQF &TLFOB[Jǘ
і敦
年
Chicago, The Arts Club of Chicago, Chinese Art from the Collection of James W. and Marilynn 頁
圖ḛ
Alsdorf, 21 September-13 November 1970. " $BSUFS
Ǘ5IF -+; $PMMFDUJPO PG
$IJOFTF +BEFTǘ
і敦
年
頁
LITERATURE: 編號
J. V. Sewell, Chinese Art from the Collection of James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf, Chicago, 1970,
no. J28.
Eskenazi Ltd., A Dealer’s Hand: The Chinese Art World through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi,
London, 2012, p. 236, pl. 154.
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 30-31, no. 10.
Birds shown in pairs seated beside each other most likely represent the affection of a
couple living in harmony, as is the case with mandarin ducks, which are thought to mate
for life. Another white jade carving of two birds, dated Song-Yuan, in the collection of Mr.
and Mrs. Philip Chu, is illustrated by Ip Yee, Chinese Jade Carvings, Hong Kong Museum
of Art, 1983, pp. 200-1. The white stone also has russet skin that highlights the wings and
heads of the birds, but not in as specific a manner as seen on the heads of the present
birds. See, also, the white jade box and cover dating to the Song dynasty with handle in
the form of two mandarin ducks with beaks touching, illustrated by Gu Fang (ed.) in The
Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 1, Beijing, 2005, p. 30. The box was
excavated from the tomb of one of the Qianlong Emperor’s sons in Miyun, Beijing, and is
now in the Capital Museum, Beijing.
What makes the present carving of particular interest, beyond the superb quality of the
white stone and the delicacy of the carving, is the mark, Xiuneisi yu zuo suo (the imperial
jade workshop of Xiuneisi) finely incised on the tail of one bird. During the Song period,
the Xiuneisi workshop was a section of a department that was involved in the construction
and maintenance of royal buildings as well as making building materials. In the late
Southern Song and Yuan periods, it is recorded as also producing fine objects in precious
materials for palace use. The workshop is discussed by James C. Watt in the exhibition
catalogue, Chinese Jade from Han to Qing, The Asia Society, New York, 1980, pp. 145-47,
in relationship to four small white archaistic jade objects, each inscribed with a lengthy
inscription, that were included in the exhibition, pp. 148-50 and discussed by Watt, pp.
(additional views)
144-47. The inscriptions cite the place of manufacture as the jade workshop of the office
of Xiuneisi and dates that would place them between 1112-1124 during the reign of the
Northern Song scholar-emperor Huizong (1101-1125). Another group of ten small related
white jade objects, also finely inscribed with inscriptions, originally in the collection of
Stephen Junkunc III, was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2007, lot 132. The group
was fully discussed by Jenny F. So, in an essay, “The Case for (or Against) Huizong’s
Jades”. Of the ten jades that comprised the group, So discusses five which have “archaistic
underpinnings,” while deeming the others to be of Qing date.

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