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A BAMBOO-ROOT ‘ELEPHANT A WHITE JADE ‘ELEPHANT A GREY AND BLACK JADE
AND BOYS’ GROUP AND BOYS’ GROUP PHOENIX
QING DYNASTY, 18TH QING DYNASTY, 18TH MING DYNASTY OR EARLIER
CENTURY CENTURY
A jade bird fashioned in a similar pose was included
A closely related bamboo carving is illustrated in Hai Carved from a fine white stone of translucent and even in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Chinese
Bo, Zhu Mu Ya Jiao Qi Zhenshang, Tainan, 1995, pl. 10, tone, this piece is particularly attractive for the sense of Jade Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum,
together with two further related examples, pls. 8 and movement and liveliness that is captured through the London, 1975, cat. no. 235; another is illustrated in
9; and one with the saddle carved with clouds, in the twisting turning poses of the figures and of the elephant. Brian Morgan, Naturalism & Archaism: Chinese Jades
National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the The craftsman has successfully captured various from the Kirknorton Collection, London, 1995, pl. 26; and
Museum’s exhibition Auspicious Ju-i Sceptres of China, textures in a display of technical proficiency, such as a third from the collection of Mr and Mrs B.H. Tisdall,
Taipei, 1995, cat. no. 101. the thick wrinkled skin of the elephant, the intricately was included in the exhibition Chinese Jades from Han
embroidered cloth draped over its back and the smooth to Ch’ing, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1980, cat.
3 plump faces of the boys. no. 81, where the author notes that the use of mottled
stone is a characteristic of jade carvings of the 13th and
A MOTTLED JADE ELEPHANT This carving is full of auspicious imagery, such as 14th century.
PEBBLE the motif of boys riding or climbing on an elephant
QING DYNASTY, 18TH representing the wish for good fortune, as the phrase 9
CENTURY ‘ride an elephant’ is close in pronunciation to ‘good
fortune’ (jixiang). Additionally, the boy clutching a A RUSSET AND CELADON JADE
Compare a similarly carved celadon jade elephant musical chime symbolises celebration. PHOENIX
illustrated in René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé, Chinese Jades 17TH CENTURY OR EARLIER
in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1977, pl. A closely related carving in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
XLIII; and one attributed to the late Tang to early Song is illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace For earlier carvings of phoenix, compare one attributed
period, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Museum, Jade, vol. 9, Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl. to the Song period illustrated in Roger Keverne, Jade,
Chinese Jade throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert 136; another from the De An Tang collection, was London, 1991, p. 21, pl. 6; and another included in
Museum, London, 1975, cat. no. 205. included in the exhibition A Romance with Jade, Palace the exhibition Exquisite Jade Carving, Art Gallery, The
Museum, Beijing, 2004, cat. no. 90; and a third of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1996,
4 slightly larger size, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, cat. no. 77.
23rd March 1993, lot 962. See also a carving of this
A WHITE JADE ‘ELEPHANT type but featuring only one boy, from the collection of 10
AND BOYS’ GROUP Mr Dumas, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October
QING DYNASTY, 18TH 2010, lot 2617. A CELADON JADE PHOENIX
CENTURY GROUP
6 QING DYNASTY, 18TH
A similarly carved jade group, but depicting the CENTURY
two boys washing the elephant was included in the A CELADON AND RUSSET JADE
exhibition Views of Antiquity in the Qing Imperial Palace, ‘PHOENIX’ WATERPOT AND A similar carving of a phoenix was included in the
Museum de Arte de Macau, Macau, 2005, cat. no. DROPPER Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Chinese Jade
109; another was sold in our New York rooms, 10th 17TH CENTURY Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum,
November 1979, lot 345; a third was sold at Christie’s London, 1975, cat. no. 399; another in the Palace
London, 3rd November 1969, lot 94; and a slightly Compare a waterdropper modelled in the form of a Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Compendium of
smaller example was included in the exhibition Exquisite phoenix, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated Collections in the Palace Museum, Jade, vol. 9, Qing
Jade Carving, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl. 141; a slightly smaller
Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 105. Jade, vol. 9, Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl. 81; and example modelled carrying a peach branch in its beak,
a white jade example of slightly smaller size, included in the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, was included in the
in the Min Chiu Society’s 45th anniversary exhibition Museum’s exhibition Chinese Jades from the Collection of
Auspicious Emblems. Chinese Cultural Treasures, Hong the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1989, cat. no. 63; and a
Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 2005, cat. no. 18. slightly larger one is illustrated in Roger Keverne, Jade,
London, 1991, p. 342, pl. 1.
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