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Lot Essay
Although finger citrons were a popular subject for jade lapidaries of the Qing dynasty, the present example is of an exceptionally large size. Other smaller examples include one in the Seattle Art Museum illustrated by J. Watt, Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1988, p. 99, no. 79; a group included in the exhibition, Minor Arts of China, IV, Spink & Sons, London, 1989, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 124, no. 174; and an example from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1396.
Jade carvings of this fruit are also found hollowed as vases, for example, a pale celadon jade vase from the Victoria and Albert Museum, included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Oriental Ceramic Society, 1975, Catalogue no. 406; a white jade example from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by Geoffrey Wills, Jade of the East, New York, 1972, fig. 65; and a large yellow jade vase from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 52.
Finger citrons are not edible unless preserved with salt or sugar but were known to have been used by Empress Cixi to fragrance rooms in the Palace. Their auspicious symbolism derives from the play on the Chinese word for finger citron, foshou, homophonous with the words for blessings, fu, and longevity, shou.
Jade carvings of this fruit are also found hollowed as vases, for example, a pale celadon jade vase from the Victoria and Albert Museum, included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Oriental Ceramic Society, 1975, Catalogue no. 406; a white jade example from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by Geoffrey Wills, Jade of the East, New York, 1972, fig. 65; and a large yellow jade vase from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 52.
Finger citrons are not edible unless preserved with salt or sugar but were known to have been used by Empress Cixi to fragrance rooms in the Palace. Their auspicious symbolism derives from the play on the Chinese word for finger citron, foshou, homophonous with the words for blessings, fu, and longevity, shou.