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Lot Essay
The auspicious phoenix (fenghuang), chief among birds, also symbolizes the empress. It is shown here grasping a blossoming peony stem, an omen of good fortune and an emblem of feminine beauty.
Another large white-jade carving of a recumbent phoenix, shown grasping a peach spray in its beak and bearing a Qianlong reign mark, is illustrated by R. Kleiner in Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 252, no. 201. The stylization of the tail feathers of the Hartman example is similar to the present figure, and the author notes, p. 252, that this treatment is typical of the late Qianlong period, and the “very large size of the piece is commensurate with increased supplies of jade available after 1760.”
Another large white-jade carving of a recumbent phoenix, shown grasping a peach spray in its beak and bearing a Qianlong reign mark, is illustrated by R. Kleiner in Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 252, no. 201. The stylization of the tail feathers of the Hartman example is similar to the present figure, and the author notes, p. 252, that this treatment is typical of the late Qianlong period, and the “very large size of the piece is commensurate with increased supplies of jade available after 1760.”