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Lot Essay
The decoration on the present carving carries many auspicious greetings. The peaches are symbols of longevity, as they are associated with the Daoist deity, Shoulao, the god of longevity; while the five bats represent the Five Blessings of longevity, health, wealth, love of virtue and a peaceful death. Together, the bats and peaches form the rebus fu shou shuang quan, a wish for happiness and long life. As such, this vase would have made an appropriate birthday gift.
Two other spinach jade vases of this rare shape, carved with similar flowering and fruiting sprays, are in the Palace Museum, Beijing, one displaying exotic blooms, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 6, no. 151 (fig. 1); and the other with peaches and stylised floral borders, in Jadeware (III) - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 64.
It is very rare to find jades carved in the meiping form. The present vase, and the other two in the Palace Museum, may very well have been based on blue and white porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Two other spinach jade vases of this rare shape, carved with similar flowering and fruiting sprays, are in the Palace Museum, Beijing, one displaying exotic blooms, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 6, no. 151 (fig. 1); and the other with peaches and stylised floral borders, in Jadeware (III) - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 64.
It is very rare to find jades carved in the meiping form. The present vase, and the other two in the Palace Museum, may very well have been based on blue and white porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties.