Page 43 - Christie's Fine Jade the LZJ Collection NYC September 21, 2023

823

A YELLOW AND RUSSET JADE CARVING OF A BOY AND LOTUS 明 黃褐玉連生貴子把Ы
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
Ϝ源
聽松書屋珍藏
香港
The boy is carved seated in the curl of a lotus leaf and grasping the stem in his proper left
鍾華培熙墀珍藏
香港
hand. The stone is softly polished and of a yellow tone with russet cleverly highlighting the
"OUIPOZ $BSUFS
і敦
年 月 日
lotus leaf.
-+;珍藏
美४
1æ in. (4.4 cm.) high, cloth box
展覽
$40,000-60,000 紐☼
"TJB )PVTF (BMMFSZ
Ǚ$IJOFTF +BEF
GSPN )BO UP $I JOHǚ
年秋
香港
香港藝術館
Ǚ中४玉雕ǚ
年 月
PROVENANCE:
日 月 日
T'ing-sung Shu-Wu Collection, Hong Kong.
Chung Wah Pui, The Hei-Chi Collection, Hong Kong. ֨ḛ
Anthony Carter, London, 5 September 2006. 屈志仁
Ǘ$IJOFTF +BEFT GSPN )BO UP
The LJZ Collection, United States. $I JOHǘ
紐☼
年
頁
編號
葉義
Ǘ中४玉雕ǘ
香港
年
頁
EXHIBITED:
編號
New York, Asia House Gallery, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, Fall 1980. 姜濤及劉雲㍿
Ǘ熙墀藏玉ǘ
٫̺
年
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Jade Carving, 21 October-24 December 1983. 頁
" $BSUFS
Ǘ5IF -+; $PMMFDUJPO PG
LITERATURE:
$IJOFTF +BEFTǘ
і敦
年
頁
J. C. Y. Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p. 113, no. 96.
編號
Ip Yee, Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong, 1983, pp. 182-83, no. 167.
Jiang Tao and Liu Yunhui, Jades from the Hei-Chi Collection, Beijing, 2006, p. 174.
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 58-59, no. 24.
Jade carvings of boys holding a lotus leaf were very popular during the Ming dynasty.
One of the words for lotus (lian) is a pun for “continuous” and the boy implies the wish for
a son. The two together form the rebus liansheng guizi (may you continuously give birth
to distinguished sons). In the present carving the carver has cleverly used the skin of the
stone to highlight the large lotus leaf.
822

A PALE GREENISH-WHITE AND RUSSET JADE CARVING 明 青白玉連生貴子擺Ы
OF A BOY AND LOTUS
Ϝ源
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644) 安思遠（ ）
紐☼
-+;珍藏
美४ (another view)
The figure is carved in a recumbent pose, with the left hand clutching banana leaf fronds
and the right grasping a lotus pod. The pale greenish-white stone has some areas of russet. ֨ḛ
" $BSUFS
Ǘ5IF -+; $PMMFDUJPO PG
3 in. (7.7 cm.) long $IJOFTF +BEFTǘ
і敦
年
頁
$25,000-35,000 編號

PROVENANCE:
Robert H. Ellsworth (1929-2014), New York.
The LJZ Collection, United States.
LITERATURE:
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 56-57, no. 23.

Each part of the lotus plant bears a different auspicious meaning. The lotus pod (lianfang
or liangpeng) symbolizes fertility and augured the early arrival of sons. The combination
of the lotus pod with a boy makes the desire for offspring and the continuation of the
family line unmistakable. A small jade carving of a boy with lotus pod leaning in a languid
position similar to that of the present figure was included in the exhibition, Exquisite Jade
Carving: Figures, Animals, Ornaments, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 44, no. 20. The depiction of a
reclining boy was not only popular in jade but also in ceramics, such as in ceramic pillows
of the Liao, Song and Yuan dynasties.

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