Page 269 - 2020 Sept Important Chinese Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Important Chinese Art | Sotheby's

Although the motif of fish is common in Qing dynasty art, the present bowl is rare for its depiction of a pair of fish submerged
beneath waves extending across the entire surface of the well. Rather than a calm, placid view of fish in a pond, the artisan
presents here a dynamic scene carved in high relief of the two creatures straining against the brisk current.

For slightly earlier, related bowls, with the fish fully visible, see a late Ming example in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the
Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, cat. pl. 29:9, and one in the collection of Joseph E. Hotung, illustrated in, Chinese Jades from
Han to Ch'ing, Asia Society, New York, 19890, cat. no. 145.

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