18TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE WHITE JADE 'POMEGRANATE AND BOYS' WATER VESSEL
18TH CENTURY
The thick-walled vessel is well carved as a large, ripe pomegranate borne on a leafy branch that rises from the base and around the sides where the leaves support three boys that cling to the sides, as one climbs up to the outcurved mouth rim. Each boy wears a short tunic and loose pants, and his hair is worn in two topknots. The stone is semi-translucent and of even tone.
5¾ in. (14.5 cm.) wide

Provenance

Colonel Robert Coleman Hall Brock (1861-1909) and Alice Gibson (1861-1925), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Henry Gibson Brock (1886-1940) and Margaret Cust Burgwin (1926-1961) Collection, Muncy, Pennsylvania, and thence by descent within the family.

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Lot Essay

Jade water vessels of this type, where boys are shown around the sides of a fruit, appear to have been popular during the 18th century. Two such examples were included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition, Chinese Jade throughout the ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, May - June 1975, no. 419, a pomegranate supported by two similar boys, and no. 429, a double-gourd vessel with four boys standing around the sides. Both the pomegranate and the double gourd are symbols of fertility, as their numerous seeds are likened to having many children, and shown in combination with boys, they represent the wish for many sons.

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