Page 254 - Christie's Fine Chinese Paintings March 19 2019 Auction

(another view)

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF NAN MCEVOY, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
1759
A RARE CARVED WHITE JADE POURING VESSEL
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The compressed, lobed body is raised on four ruyi-head supports, a small including the University of California, San Francisco, the Fine Arts Museums
pouring spout on one side is spanned by a small bat with spread wings and of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Symphony, and she maintained a
raised on a demi-fower head handle that suspends a loose ring above a bat journalistic spirit throughout her life.
with outstretched, scrolling wings carved in low relief on the side of the vessel
below, while on the opposite side further stylized, scrolling wings carved in low The decoration of fve bats, which is so fnely carved on this bowl, represents
relief extend below a small bat carved in high relief on the rim. The vessel is the wufu (the Five Blessings): longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue and a
fanked by a pair of handles fnely carved as bats suspending loose rings. The peaceful death. According to Teresa Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings in
well-polished stone of pale greenish-white color has a few small areas of pale, Chinese Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2006, p. 23, no. 1.1.6, “fve
added russet color and some opaque markings in the stone. bats also can express the idea ‘May the fve blessings descend upon this
9 in. (22.8 cm.) wide home’ (lufu linmen), which would be a ftting wish for a newly married couple,
and ftting decoration for a wedding gift.”
$100,000-150,000
White jade vessels of this shape, with a spout on one side, are variously
known as pouring vessels, marriage bowls or brush washers. Several
PROVENANCE
published examples similarly include fve bats (wufu) in the decoration.
McEvoy Family Collection, acquired before 1927.
One of peach shape, that also has a bat spanning the spout and is carved
Nan McEvoy (1919-2015) Collection, San Francisco, California. around the sides with a leafy branch as well as four further bats, was sold
at Christie’s New York, 22-23 March 2012, lot 1920. Another in the same
Nan Tucker McEvoy was a newspaper heiress who lead the parent company sale, lot 1885, also of peach shape, is raised on three small bat-form feet
of the San Francisco Chronicle in the last quarter of the 20th century. and has two small bat-form handles. Three others of peach shape with
Born in Northern California and later taking up residence in Washington bat-form handles suspending loose rings are also published: one raised on
D.C., she was appointed as the frst woman to chair the Governing Board four similar feet was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot
of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Born into the news industry, 1539; one was sold at Christie’s New York, 15 September 2009, lot 140; and
her grandfather, M. H. de Young, created the Chronicle with his brother in one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated by Yang Boda in Chinese
1865, and she worked as a reporter at the newspaper in her younger years. Jades Throughout the Ages - Connoisseurship of Chinese Jades, vol. 12, Qing
Starting in the 1990s she created the McEvoy Ranch in Petaluma, California, Dynasty, pp. 140-41, pl. 70, where one can see that it is similarly raised on
growing it into one of the country’s premier producers of olive oil. A prolifc four ruyi-head feet.
advocate for the causes that she believed in, Ms. McEvoy was a founding
member of the Peace Corps and board member of countless organizations, 清乾隆 白玉五福活環耳洗

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