MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

Details

A YELLOW AND RUSSET JADE CARVING OF A BOY AND LOTUS
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
The boy is carved seated in the curl of a lotus leaf and grasping the stem in his proper left hand. The stone is softly polished and of a yellow tone with russet cleverly highlighting the lotus leaf.
1 ¾ in. (4.4 cm.) high, cloth box

Provenance

T'ing-sung Shu-Wu Collection, Hong Kong.
Chung Wah Pui, The Hei-Chi Collection, Hong Kong.
Anthony Carter, London, 5 September 2006.
The LJZ Collection, United States.

Literature

J. C. Y. Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p. 113, no. 96.
Ip Yee, Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong, 1983, pp. 182-83, no. 167.
Jiang Tao and Liu Yunhui, Jades from the Hei-Chi Collection, Beijing, 2006, p. 174.
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 58-59, no. 24.

Exhibited

New York, Asia House Gallery, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, Fall 1980.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Jade Carving, 21 October-24 December 1983.

Conditions of sale

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Vicki Paloympis (潘薇琦) Head of Department, VP, Specialist

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Lot Essay

Jade carvings of boys holding a lotus leaf were very popular during the Ming dynasty. One of the words for lotus (lian) is a pun for “continuous” and the boy implies the wish for a son. The two together form the rebus liansheng guizi (may you continuously give birth to distinguished sons). In the present carving the carver has cleverly used the skin of the stone to highlight the large lotus leaf.

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