A RARE AND FINELY CARVED WHITE JADE 'CRANE' GROUP

Details

A RARE AND FINELY CARVED WHITE JADE 'CRANE' GROUP
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

Well carved in the round and in openwork with one bird holding a leafy peach spray in its beak, standing on a clump of russet-toned lingzhi fungus with its mate nestled beneath, the even white stone with a slight celadon tinge
6 in. (15 cm.) high

Provenance

H.J. Heinz II, New York
Sotheby's New York, March 1977, lot 42
Park Bernet Gallery, 27 February 1981, lot 399

Literature

Roger Keverne (Ed.), Jade, London, 1991, p. 154, fig. 65
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 197

Exhibited

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

Lot Essay

The cranes, peach and lingzhi fungus are all symbols of long life and immortality, because of their association with Daoism, and in particular, with the god of longevity, Shoulao. The crane is also symbolic of wisdom, while a pair of cranes may also constitute a wish for a long marriage.

Cf. another jade group of cranes also in the Hartman Collection, illustrated by Robert Kleiner, op. cit., no. 200.

More from Important Chinese Jades from the Personal Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman

View All