Lot 826
826
A RARE AND FINELY CARVED PALE GREENISH-WHITE AND RUSSET JADE 'BIRD AND PEACH' GROUP
A RARE AND FINELY CARVED PALE GREENISH-WHITE AND RUSSET JADE 'BIRD AND PEACH' GROUP
A RARE AND FINELY CARVED PALE GREENISH-WHITE AND RUSSET JADE 'BIRD AND PEACH' GROUP
A RARE AND FINELY CARVED PALE GREENISH-WHITE AND RUSSET JADE 'BIRD AND PEACH' GROUP
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A RARE AND FINELY CARVED PALE GREENISH-WHITE AND RUSSET JADE 'BIRD AND PEACH' GROUP

QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details
A RARE AND FINELY CARVED PALE GREENISH-WHITE AND RUSSET JADE 'BIRD AND PEACH' GROUP
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The group is formed as a recumbent bird grasping a leafy sprig bearing two peaches in its beak, with the feathers neatly fanned and finely incised. A four-character Qianlong seal mark is inscribed on the underside. The stone is primarily of a pale greenish-white tone with areas of russet.
3 ¾ in. (9.6 cm.) long
Provenance
Anthony Carter, London, 20 September 2005.
The LJZ Collection, United States.
Literature
J. Johnson and Chan Lai Pik, 5000 Years of Chinese Jade, San Antonio, 2011, p. 122, no. 85.
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 92-93, no. 40.
Exhibited
San Antonio, San Antonio Museum of Art, 5000 Years of Chinese Jade, 1 October 2011-19 February 2012.

Brought to you by

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

It is very rare to find a jade animal or bird carving bearing a Qianlong mark. This carving may have been intended as a gift, as the motif of two peaches represents the wish, “may you live long” (changshou). This motif can also be seen in two earlier jade carvings. One is illustrated in Dr. Newton’s Zoo: A Study of post-Archaic Small Jade Carvings, Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, 1981, pp. 18-19, no. 21 and Pl. IV, where it is dated Tang dynasty; the other described as a phoenix and dated Song, is illustrated by James C. Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, The Asia Society, 1980, p. 96, no. 80. A white and russet jade carving of two birds facing each other (11.5 cm.), which exhibits carving very similar to the present figure, in the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 42 - Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 102, pl. 82.

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