Property from the Collection of Colonel Tom Hall

A rare pale celadon jade 'immortals' group, Qing dynasty, 18th century

Auction Closed

November 6, 03:25 PM GMT

Estimate

40,000 - 60,000 GBP

Lot Details

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Description

wood stand (2)

Length 30 cm, 11¾ in.

Spink & Son Ltd., London, 15th November 1968.

This exquisite jade carving consists of a combination of auspicious motifs representing long life depicting a scene of an immortal being rowed by two boys on a pine-tree raft that is sprouting branches, accompanied by a pair of deer, a pair of cranes and a basket of peaches. It may reference the birthday celebration of the Queen Mother of the West (Xi Wangmu), during which immortals bring gifts to her. There are many variations of this theme, featuring Daoist immortal Magu, Zhang Qian, and other immortal assemblies, all clearly conveying good wishes for longevity. This piece is rare for its exceptionally complex design and may have been a birthday present for an important elderly person or even the Emperor.

 

Compare a similar ‘raft with immortals’ piece from the Avery Brundage Collection in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (acc. no. B69J4); another pale green jade immortals raft group, also paired with a zitan wood stand, from the Collection of Sir John Woolf, included in the exhibition The Woolf Collection of Chinese Jade, London, 2013, cat. no. 133; a smaller example of ‘Magu and figure group on raft’ from the collection of the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), exhibited in Yubao qiulin, Qinggong jiucang yuqi / Treasure of Imperial Jade, The Collection of the Qing Court Special Exhibition, Beijing, 2018, cat. no. 67; and a smaller raft with an immortal and a crane, is illustrated in Tianjin Bowuguan cang yu / Jade Wares Collected by Tianjin Museum, Beijing, 2012, pl. 205. See also a related example of simpler design sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 29th May 2018, lot 34; another example of a ‘raft with two figures flanking a central flower-basket’, was sold at Christie's Paris, 15th December 2010, lot 101; and a pale green-white jade raft group, sold at Christie's New York, 15th September 2011, lot 1035.

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