Page 148 - Bonham's Asian Art London November 12, 2015

156
A RARE PALE GREEN AND MOTTLED JADE ‘DOUBLE-
CHILONG’ PLAQUE
15th century
Expertly and deeply carved in high relief with a sinuous chilong dragon
confronting its smaller kin, both similarly detailed with bifurcated horns
and scrolling tail, crawling with their outstretched limbs, the stone of a
pale green tone highlighted by mottled inclusions.
8.2cm (3 1/4in) wide

£8,000 - 12,000 CNY77,000 - 120,000
HK$94,000 - 140,000

十五世紀 青墨玉蒼龍教子牌

157
A SMALL WHITE JADE ARCHAISTIC CARVING
Qianlong
Of crescent form, crisply carved in low relief to each side with a taotie
mask, its bulging eyes, horns and manes finely detailed, flanked by a
pair of stylised gui dragons with conjoined arch-shaped body detailed
with archaistic scrolls, the attractive stone of a pale even tone.
5.6cm (2 1/8in) wide

156 £3,000 - 5,000 CNY29,000 - 48,000
HK$35,000 - 59,000
157
146 | BONHAMS 清乾隆 白玉仿古饕餮紋夔龍首佩

The archaistic jade plaque is inspired by earlier plaques dating to the
late Spring and Autumn period; see for example Shanghai Museum
Ancient Chinese Jade Gallery, Shanghai, p.24 (top right). For a Qing
dynasty russet jade archaistic example from the Qing Court Collection,
see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum:
Jadeware II, Beijing, 2008, pl.97.

158
A PALE GREEN JADE RECTANGULAR TABLE SCREEN
18th/19th century
Intricately carved with a sage and a Buddhist lion playing with its cub
as an attendant presents them with a brocade ball, all set amid a rocky
landscape dotted with paulownia and pine trees, shrouded by swirling
clouds and a waterfall in the distance, the reverse with a flowering
prunus tree, the stone of pale green tone with milky and russet
inclusions, wood stand.
22.4cm (8 7/8in）long x 19.9cm (7 7/8in) wide (2).

£30,000 - 40,000 CNY290,000 - 390,000
HK$350,000 - 470,000

十八/十九世紀 青白玉太獅少獅插屏

Lions were highly regarded in China for their courage and association
with military power. The homophonic nature of the word for lion, shi,
with the word for preceptor, and the combination of lion and cub,
produce the rebus ‘Taishi shaoshi’, meaning ‘Grand Preceptor of the
Emperor’s Teacher and Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince’s Mentor’,
two highly prestigious positions in Imperial China.

Compare a white jade screen, dated to the Qianlong reign, from the
Michael S.L. Liu collection, similarly carved with a Buddhist lion and
cub, illustrated in Virtuous Treasures: Chinese jades from the scholar’s
table, Hong Kong, 2008, p.107, pl.44.