A white jade 'elephant and foreigner' group, Qing dynasty, 18th century | 清十八世紀 白玉胡人洗象

The subject matter of figures tending to an elephant forms multiple layers of meaning and auspiciousness. The phrase 'ride an elephant' (qi xiang), has a similar pronunciation as ji xiang, meaning 'good fortune'. Furthermore, the boy atop the elephant is holding a broom and is thus cleaning or washing the elephant, sao xiang. The message is contained in the pun since the pronunciation of 'elephant' and 'image' is the same in Chinese (xiang) and illustrates the Buddhist concept of sweeping away the phenomena of the outside world, which are thought to be mere illusions.

Compare two related white jade carvings from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade, vol. 9: Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pls 136-137; and another pale green and russet jade example, also from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 97.

白玉閃青，帶皮色，玉質溫潤。圓雕三胡人，手持帚、刷以及寳盆，分別靠騎於象首兩側及象後背。佛教認為，象有大力，表法身堪能荷負，無有煩惱雜染，因而為白色。「象」與「祥」諧音，具有「吉祥如意」，胡人騎於象上為之清掃，「掃象」即「掃相」，意指破除對一切名利的執著。

胡人騎象題材在清宮玉雕陳設器中流行，見北京故宮博物院藏兩例，著錄於《故宮博物院藏品大系：玉器編9清》，北京，2011年，圖版136-137。另見青白玉雕一例，亦帶有皮色，見《故宮博物院文物珍品全集：玉器（III）》，香港，1995年，圖97。