Sale 2388
Hong Kong
|
27 November 2007
Price realised
HKD 295,500
Estimate
A LARGE OPAQUE WHITE AND RUSSET JADE TOAD LATE MING/EARLY QING DYNASTY, 16TH/17TH CENTURY The large flattened boulder carved as a three-legged toad clutching a fruiting pomegranate branch it its mouth, the leafy braches extending to either side of its wide body, its back covered in a regular pattern of raised spots, the curved spine highlighted by a band of slightly larger raised dots, the stone of an opaque creamy white tone suffused with orange brown markings 8¼ in. (21 cm.) wide
Provenance
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Literature
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 59
Exhibited
Christie's New York, 13-26 March 2001 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, August 2003-December 2004
Depictions of toads carrying pomegranates signify the wish for wealth and numerous sons. While the pomegranate symbolizes the wish for progeny, the three legged toad is the attribute of the god of wealth, Liuhai, also known as Liu Haichan. The Chinese names for pomegranate, shiliu, and toad, chan, combine to form a homophone for part of the name Liu Haichan.
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