18TH/19TH CENTURY

This unusual combination of a bird, supposedly representing a seagull, standing on a tortoise in breaking waves is symbolic of peace. The imagery is from the legendary reference haiyen heqing, which purports that the sea will not be calm until the arrival of sages, and on their eventual appearance the Yellow River will be clear and tranquil.
A pair of similar green jade candlesticks was included in the exhibition, The Jade-Carving Art in the Ch'ing Dynasty, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1996, p. 100.