QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

细节

A WHITE JADE CAT-FISH TOGGLE
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
The pebble well carved in the round and in openwork with a sinuous curled cat-fish, grasping a lingzhi spray in its mouth, the well-polished stone of an even white tone
2 1/4 in. (5.5 cm.) long

来源

A French private collection

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拍品专文

The cat-fish was commonly used in Chinese iconography from the Song dynasty onwards, because its name, nian, is a homophone for the word for 'year', and also because it has a head shaped like a ruyi fungus. Thus, the visual pun a cat-fish with the lingzhi forms the auspicious greeting, nian nian ruyi, 'may your wishes come true, year after year', which is particularly apt as a New Year salutation. It also forms the rebus jixiang youyu, a wish for fortune and abundance. More commonly, paired fish also symbolise a successful marriage.