18TH CENTURY

Details

A SUPERB WHITE JADE CARVING OF TWO MONKEYS
18TH CENTURY
The carving depicts a seated monkey holding a peach, with its young clambering on its back and holding a bat. The white stone is of even tone.
2 ½ in. (6.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Chung Wah Pui, The Hei-Chi Collection, Hong Kong.
Anthony Carter, London, 5 January 2007.
The LJZ Collection, United States.

Literature

Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong, 1996, pp. 180-81, no. 172.
Jiang Tao and Liu Yunhui, Jades from the Hei-Chi Collection, Beijing, 2006, p. 195.
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 86-87, no. 37.

Exhibited

Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Jade Animals, 19 April-14 July 1996.

Conditions of sale

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Vicki Paloympis (潘薇琦) Head of Department, VP, Specialist

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Lot Essay

This carving of a monkey holding a large peach while its baby clings to its back represents the rebus shoutao, which Terese Tse Bartholomew interprets as “Sacred monkey offers longevity (linghou xianshou), in Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2006, p. 198, no. 7.40.1, where a green jade carving of this subject is illustrated. See, also, the white jade carving, dated 17^th century, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated by Jessica Rawson, “Chinese Jade throughout the ages”, Victoria and Albert Museum, T.O.C.S., vol. 40, 1973-75, p. 123, no. 402.

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