A WHITE JADE FIGURE OF MAGU QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD |

the Daoist divinity carved standing in voluminous robes holding a gnarled branch of large, flowering prunus blossoms, the hair swept up in an elaborate chignon secured with ribbon, the swaying garment and luxuriant draped sleeves finely carved to suggest a light breeze, accompanied by a crane perched on a pierced rockwork base grasping a lingzhi sprig in its beak, the stone a translucent white, tinged with pale celadon wood stand (2)

Collection of the Marquise & Marquise de Ganay, Courances, Frances.
Marchant, London. 

90th Anniversary Exhibition: Ninety Jades for 90 Years, Marchant, London, 2015, cat. no. 66. 

The present carving of Magu is imbued with symbols such as the crane and lingzhi, identifying and emphasizing her as the Goddess of Longevity. She holds in her hands a flowering prunus branch, representing vitality in old age. A slightly larger related figure from the Qianlong period, also with the immortal accompanied by a crane but holding a peach, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 30th October 1991, lot 397. Compare also a figure with similarly modeled robes and pose, holding lingzhi, in the collection of the Palace Museum, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade. Qing Dynasty, Vol. 8, Beijing, 2011, cat. no. 259.