Details
A CELADON AND RUSSET JADE WEIGHT
LATE 17TH CENTURY

The weight carved from a thin stone as two bats, facing each other with their wings spread and overlapping, the underside carved and incised as a brocade textile and tassel, pierced for suspension, the translucent stone of celadon and rich russet tones with a smooth polish
3 1/8in. (8cm.) wide, box
Exhibited
The Dayton Art Institute, 1989, no. 175

Lot Essay

Brian Morgan, commenting on the Kirknorton Collection, notes that bats do not usually appear as decorative motifs in Chinese applied arts until the end of the Kangxi period. The word fu, meaning bat, is also a homophone for "happiness", here double happiness.

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