Page 112 - Marchant Ninety Jades For 90 Years

The de Ganay Buffalo and Boy

五 58. Reclining water buffalo with detailed work to the horns, lips, nape, neck and spine, and hairwork to the tail, mouth and eyebrows,

十 the hooves neatly tucked underneath, looking back at a smiling boy seated on its back and holding a tether secured through its nose,

八 the stone pale celadon.

5 ¼ inches, 13.3 cm long; 3 cm ½ inches, 8.9 cm high.
牧 Qianlong, 1736-1795.
牛

童 • From the collection of the Marquis & Marquise de Ganay, Courances, France.
子 • A similar group is illustrated by Zhao Gui Ling in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Jade, Vol. 9, Qing Dynasty,

青 Gu Gong Inventory no. Gu 100178, no. 135, p. 145; and again illustrated by Zhang Guang Wen in The Complete Collection of
白 Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (II), no. 139, p. 180.
玉 • Another, from the Beijing Art Museum, with a boy holding a flute, his hand on the horn of the water buffalo, is illustrated by

Mei Ninghua & Tao Xincheng in Gems of Beijing Cultural Relics Series, Jades, no. 221, p. 190; another is illustrated by Chen Hao

乾 in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum exhibition of Jade Blossom, Imperial Xiuneisi Jade Objects and Ancient Jade Gems Collected by
隆 the Xu’s of Cixi, Zhejiang, 2010, p. 204/5; yet another, from the collection of Anthony K.W. Cheung, is illustrated by Humphrey

K. F. Hui, Tina Yee-wan Pang and Yeung Chun-tong, in Virtuous Treasures, Chinese Jade for the Scholars Table, an exhibition

de Ganay organised by the University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, 2007, no. 96, pp. 170/1.

• An example with the boy standing beside a recumbent water buffalo and holding one of its horns was included by The

Metropolitan Museum of Art in their exhibition of A Passion for Jade: The Heber Bishop Collection, 2015, no. 20, Accession No.

侯 02.18.438.
爵 • The boy riding on a buffalo or playing on its back is a scene frequently portrayed in Chinese art. It is a positive image and
夫 symbolises harvest and fertility.
婦

舊

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