Page 22 - Chinese Jades Nov 30 2017 Hong Kong

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A CELADON AND BROWN JADE FIGURE OF A Images of boys playing with a hobby horse comprise part of
BOY ON HOBBY HORSE the popular ‘boys at play’ and ‘Hundred Boys’ subjects that
MING DYNASTY emerged from the Song dynasty. This theme is symbolic of the
Confucian ideal for the education and advancement of many
depicted riding on a hobby horse with his left hand grasping sons, a wish further emphasised by the lotus he carries which
the reins, his right arm raised holding a large lotus leaf, the hair represents ‘May you continuously give birth to distinguished
gathered into two topknots, the stone of a golden beige tone sons’. As the boy is depicted riding a hobby horse, this conveys
with darker patches the wish for it to come immediately or soon (mashang) which
8.2 cm, 3¼ in. is a pun for ‘to be on top of a horse’.
HK$ 50,000-70,000 This lively motif continued to be used in jade carvings through
US$ 6,500-9,000 to the Qing dynasty. For an eighteenth century example, see
a white jade figure from the Muwen Tang collection, sold in
明 褐斑青玉雕騎馬童子 these rooms, 1st December 2016, lot 158. Compare also a
figure, depicted holding a rattle instead of a lotus stem, in the
Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, coll. no. BATEA 1218; and a
figure of a boy holding a lantern on a pole, from the collection
of Florence and Herbert Irving and now in the Metropolitan
Museum, New York, acc. no. 2015.500.5.14.

20 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比