A SUPERB LARGE WHITE JADE 'POMEGRANATE AND BOYS' GROUP

Details

A SUPERB LARGE WHITE JADE 'POMEGRANATE AND BOYS' GROUP
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Finely carved in the round to depict two boys clambering up the sides of a pair of large ripe pomegranates growing from a gnarled leafy bough, the boy seated on top resting a ruyi sceptre over his shoulder, the semi-translucent stone of a creamy-white tone
6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.) long, stand

Literature

Roger Keverne (ed.), Jade, London, 1991, p. 152, fig. 59
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 174

Exhibited

Christie's New York, 13-26 March 2001
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, August 2003 - December 2004

Lot Essay

The two boys represented here could very well be the mythical Hehe Erxian twins who are symbolic of harmony and happiness, and were a popular subject-matter in Chinese art for their mischievous yet endearing countenances. The pomegranate, which is one of the 'Three Abundances', is a symbol of fertility, as its numerous seeds are likened to having many children. Together, the pomegranate and the heavenly twins, form an auspicious image of happiness and fecundity, reinforced by the presence of the ruyi which translates as "as you wish".

For a comparable jade group, see James Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p. 110, no. 94.

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