18TH/19TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF GREEN JADE BIRD-FORM PRICKET CANDLESTICKS
18TH/19TH CENTURY
Each carved as a bird with outstretched wings clutching a pearl in its beak and supporting a tall pricket encircled by a drip pan standing atop a tortoise seated on top of two snakes amidst waves beneath a border of classic scroll, the exterior of the base carved with lotus lappets and raised on three short ruyi-head feet
9 in. (22.9 cm.) high (2)

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Lot Essay

This unusual combination of a bird, supposedly representing a seagull, standing on a tortoise in breaking waves is symbolic of peace. The imagery is from the legendary reference haiyen heqing, which purports that the sea will not be calm until the arrival of sages, and on their eventual appearance the Yellow River will be clear and tranquil.
A pair of similar green jade candlesticks was included in the exhibition, The Jade-Carving Art in the Ch'ing Dynasty, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1996, p. 100.

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