Page 84 - Marchant Ninety Jades For 90 Years

四 42. Pendant carved in the form of a goldfish and a three-legged toad entwined amongst lotus leaves and shells, the fat fish with bulging

十 eyes and detailed work to the tail and fin, the toad’s back naturalistically carved, the stone white, russet, taupe and honey.

二 1 ⅝ inches, 4.2 cm long; 1 ¼ inches, 2.6 cm high.

Qianlong, 1736-1795.
金

鱼 • From a private Italian collection, purchased between 1950 and 1970.
墜 • A related pendant with two carp, a three-legged toad, conch shells and lotus leaf was included by Marchant in their 70th

白 anniversary exhibition of Post-Archaic Chinese Jades, 1995, no. 71, p. 56; another, from the collection of Tuyet Nguyet, is
玉 illustrated by Tina Ye-wan Pang & Jane Sze in Virtuous Treasures, Chinese Jades for the Scholar’s Table, An exhibition held by the
University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, 2007-2008, no. 114, p. 190.

乾 • A three-legged toad with two pomegranates, carved in a similar style, from the collection of Mr. W. P. Chung, is illustrated by
隆 Ip Yee in Chinese Jade Carving, An Exhibition Jointly Presented by the Urban Council Hong Kong and the Min Chiu Society,

Organised by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1983, no. 284, pp. 296/7, where the author notes, the style of the carving is that

of Suzhou workshops, and is again illustrated by Gerard Tsang in Chinese Jade Animals, An Exhibition Presented by the Urban

Council Hong Kong and Organised by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1996, no. 178, pp. 186/7.

• Fish, yu, is phonetically identical to the word meaning abundance. Fish also symbolise marital bliss, since they swim in pairs.

The three-legged toad is a companion of the Daoist figure Liu Hai, which could transport him anywhere he desired. Because

the toad could only be tempted from the water with a long string of coins it has become a symbol for making money. Therefore,

together with the fish, this piece is a symbol for having an abundance of children and wealth. The fish and lotus form the rebus

liannian youyu, ‘May you continuously have plenty year after year’, as the word for lotus, lian, is a pun for continuous.

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