Page 186 - March 22 2022 Bonhams
P. 186

(two views)




           PROPERTY OF A LADY
           230
           CELADON RUSSET JADE IMMORTAL AND BOY ATTENDANT    Whilst our figure does not display the attributes normally associated
           Ming Dynasty, 17th Century                        with the Daoist immortal Shoulao, neither a peach or scepter with
           The larger robed figure, probably Shoulao, holding a lingzhi spray in   a deer nearby, nor a high cranium, but rather a cloth cap usually
           his left hand and a ribboned gourd over his right shoulder, and a staff   indicative of a sage, our elderly man is very similarly carved to
           by his side, the boy attendant holding a basket in his right hand and   representations of the Daoist god of longevity, and does appear to
           with a cloth hanging from his belt to his reverse, the figures standing   hold a staff in his raised right hand.
           amidst attractively drilled pierced rockwork visible mostly to the
           lower sides and reverse, the back of the figure with russet and beige   There is a possibility that the young attendant standing in front of
           inclusions.                                       our figure, clutching a basket may represent Lan Caihe, one of the
           5 5/16in (12.9cm) high, circular wood stand       eight Daoist immortals and the patron of florists and gardeners. Lan’s
                                                             gender is uncertain since s/he is sometimes depicted as a young girl
           $6,000 - 8,000                                    or boy.

                                                             A jade figure described as Tung-fang Shou (Dongfang Shuo), a
           明 十七世紀 青玉壽老擺件                                     Han dynasty scholar-official, and dated to the late Ming or early
                                                             Qing dynasty, with a large gourd vessel on his back tied with ribbon
           Provenance                                        sashes and also wearing a cloth cap, is illustrated by James C.Y.
           A Private English Collector in the US., 1970’s to the present day   Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, The Asia Society, Inc.,
                                                             New York, 1980, pp.118-119, no. 101. For a slightly later figure of
           出處:                                               the immortal Shoulao and boy attendant, see Christie’s, London, 6
           美國英裔私人收藏,1970 年代至今                                November 2012, lot 21.




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