A GREY-GREEN JADE ‘PEACH AND BATS’ BOX AND COVER QING DYNASTY, 18TH – EARLY 19TH CENTURY

naturalistically worked as a large peach with a leafy gnarled stem that curls up and around the fruit, the high-relief pierced stems cleverly worked to link the box and cover together, the cover with two large bats resting on the stems, the well-hollowed stone of a pale green colour with caramel-brown russet inclusions, wood stand

Sotheby’s London, 13th July 2005, lot 176.

The box and cover has recently been damaged: there is a break to the uncarved area of the rim (2cm by 0.8cm), and the link between the cover and the box has been broken off. Photos of the three fragments are available upon request. There are also small chips to the fragile tips of the decoration and minor areas of polishing. The colour of the stone is a much deeper green than in the catalogue photo, where it's emerged to white.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This elegant box is remarkable for its ingenious construction, the branches skilfully interlocked to join the two halves. A slightly larger box of this type, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is illustrated in Ming Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, pl. 58; two were sold at Christie’s London, the first, 5th/6th July 1983, lot 688, and the second, 10th April 1984, lot 620; and a further box was sold at Christie’s New York, 15th September 2011, lot 1020.

See also a box in the form of a peach, but the two halves linked by an oval loop, sold twice in our New York rooms, in 1982 and 1984, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th September 1992, lot 729; and a larger one, attributed to the Ming dynasty, from the Plesch collection, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1975, cat. no. 358, and sold at Christie’s London, 3rd November 2009, lot 167, where it was attributed to the 18th century.