18TH CENTURY

Details

A WHITE AND RUSSET JADE FIGURE OF A THREE-LEGGED TOAD WITH POMEGRANATES
18TH CENTURY
The three-legged toad is well-carved with a knobby backbone and webbed feet, and is shown with the head resting on a gnarled leafy branch bearing two pomegranates. The stone is of a creamy white tone with patches of russet cleverly utilized to highlight the fruits.
1 ¾ in. (4.5 cm.) wide

Provenance

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

Literature

Ip Yee, Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong, 1983, pp. 296-97, no. 284.
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 186, no. 178.
Jiang Tao and Liu Yunhui, Jades from the Hei-Chi Collection, Beijing, 2006, p. 196.
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 84-85, no. 36.

Exhibited

Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Jade Carving, 21 October-24 December 1983.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Jade Animals, 19 April-14 July 1996.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

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

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

The subject of this unusual carving, a three-legged toad with two pomegranates represents the rebus dingcai liangwang (abundance of children and wealth). The use of the natural russet skin of the white stone was cleverly used to highlight the pomegranates.

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