Page 222 - Sotheby's Asia Week March 2024 Chinee Art

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A SET OF THREE CHICKEN-BONE JADE 十七 / 十八世紀 雞骨白玉雕瑞芝洗一組三 A RARE INSCRIBED BROWN JADE ‘PEACH SEED’ 明 / 清初 玉雕半桃核式盃
‘LINGZHI’ WASHERS, 17TH / 18TH CENTURY 件 VESSEL, MING / EARLY QING DYNASTY 字：
wood stand (4) inscribed to the rim with a twenty-character inscription 西王母賜漢武桃 宣和殿 庚子年甲申月丁酉日記
Width of largest 7⅜ in., 18.6 cm translating to ‘Queen Mother of the West bestowed a
heavenly peach to Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty. Xuanhe
This set of brushwashers may have been presented on the Hall. Recorded on the cyclical day of dingyou, jiashen month, 來源：
occasion of a birthday as suggested by the references to gengzi year’, wood stand (2) Louis Joseph，倫敦，1960-1985 (傳)
longevity through the lingzhi fungus and ruyi form of the Length 7 in., 17.9 cm Herbert Lobl 伉儷收藏
vessels, as well as the chrysanthemum flower carved in the 馬錢特，倫敦
middle-sized vessel. This auspicious meaning is emphasized PROVENANCE
by the wannianqing (rohdea japonica) or the sacred lily Louis Joseph, London, 1960-1985 (by repute).
carved inside the largest brushwasher, an evergreen Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Lobl. 展覽：
which symbolizes growth and happiness through its green Marchant, London. 《樓伯珍藏中國玉器》，馬錢特，倫敦，2020年，
leaves and numerous descendants through its red berries. 編號8
Compare a white jade brushwasher of this type similarly EXHIBITED
decorated with stalks of chrysanthemum in the interior, The Lobl Collection of Chinese Jades, Marchant, London,
sold at Christie’s London, 11th December 1989, and again at 2020, cat. no. 8.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st December 2009, lot 2044.
This jade ‘peach seed’ vessel is extremely rare, and no other
⊖ $ 25,000-30,000 jade examples of this type appear to be recorded. Compare
a partially glazed Yixing vessel bearing the same inscription,
in the Percival David Foundation, London (accession no. PDF
A84), published on the Museum’s website. Another Yixing
example of this type inscribed with a poetic verse was sold in
our Hong Kong rooms, 24th May 1978, lot 350. See also two
without an inscription: one in the National Palace Museum,
Taipei (accession no. 故瓷017845N000000000), published
on the Museum’s website; and the other in the Palace
Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Wang Jianhua, ed., Gugong
bowuyuan cang yixing zisha / Yixing Zisha Wares in the
Palace Museum, Beijing, 2009, pl. 138. See an ink cake made
by Luo Xiaohua in the same form of a peach seed, inscribed
with the same inscription, attributed to the Jiajing period, in
the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. 新00005719),
published on the Museum’s website.
⊖ $ 6,000-8,000

440 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11410 441