QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A WHITE JADE POMEGRANATE-FORM BOX AND COVER
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The rounded fruit is formed from a single pebble, carved on the exterior in openwork with two leafy branches extending around the sides and interlocking to form a hinge. The cover is further carved in relief with a small cicada seated to one side above the large flowerhead straddling the box and cover, the stone of an even white tone with small russet and opaque inclusions.
3 ¼ in. (8.3 cm.) long

Provenance

Sold at Christie’s New York, 2 December 1985, lot 313
The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot 1515

Literature

Roger Keverne ed., Jade, London, 1991, p. 152, figs. 61 and 62
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 86

Exhibited

Christie’s New York, 13-26 March, 2001
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Chinese Jades from the Hartman Collection, August 2003-December 2004

Brought to you by

Priscilla Kong

pkong@christies.com +852 2978 9958

Lot Essay

Compare with a similar peach box and cover with interlocking branches joining the two halves in the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrated by M. Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, p. 56, no. 58, where the author notes that this group of carvings is very impressive from a technical point of view because of the great precision it would have involved for the two halves of the box to fit together so perfectly. Another very similar pomegranate box with a small insect resting on the cover in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum is illustrated by J. Watt, Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1989, p. 99, no. 78.

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