A white and russet jade 'squirrel and vine' group, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period

Collection of Professor Claus J. Mueller (1923-2010), acquired in Hong Kong, early 1960s.

Compare a similar pendant illustrated in Xue Guisheng, Zhongguo yuqi shangjian [An appreciation and examination of Chinese jades], Shanghai, 2000, pl. 370; another related squirrel and grape pendant, enveloped by leaves in Jibao cangyu / Chinese Jade from the Stony Collection, Taipei, 2008, pp 122-3; and another in The Splendour of Jade, The Songzhutang Collection of Jade, Hong Kong, 2011, pl. 98, where the author notes the connection between this motif and wishes of fertility, with grapes growing in abundance with numerous seeds and squirrels, already known for their progeny, associated in Chinese with the zodiacal shu (of the mouse group), corresponding to the zi hour – a further reference to the wish for another zi: sons.