A MAGNIFICENT LARGE PALE CELADON JADE PHOENIX

Details

A MAGNIFICENT LARGE PALE CELADON JADE PHOENIX
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Superbly modelled with the head of the mythical bird turned to the left, biting a leafy spray of peaches and blossom in its beak, seated with its taloned feet tucked under its full body and with the later added characters wan yu, 'jade plaything', incised in a cavity between the feet, supported on the elaborate tail with the feathers curled underneath and the details of the plumage finely rendered, the semi-translucent stone of a pale celadon tone speckled with areas of opacity, with an apocryphal six-character reign mark partially effaced
10 in. (25.3 cm.) long, stand

Provenance

Max Lonner, New York

Literature

Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 201

Exhibited

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

Lot Essay

The size of this carving is exceptionally large and would probably date to after 1760 when supplies for the material increased, and court lapidaries were able to be more extravagant in the size of new production. The more stylised features, such as the treatment of the tail feathers and the fruiting branch, also point to a later Qianlong date.

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