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A WHITE JADE 'HEHE ERXIAN' GROUP QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 HKD
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Description
- jade
depicting the two boys seated side by side with a brocade ball between them, one holding a spray of lotus wrapping around his shoulder, the smoothly polished stone of an even white colour
Provenance
Christie's New York, 18th March 1991, lot 353.
Condition
The group is in good condition. The actual colour of the stone is of a slightly more celadon tone than the catalogue illustration.
"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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
Fashioned from a highly translucent white jade stone, carvings of boys with lotus were popular from the Song to the Qing dynasties as the motif is steeped in auspicious symbolism. The word for boy (zi) and lotus (lian) forms the rebus lian sheng gui zi, which expresses the wish of the continuous birth of prestigious sons. In the catalogue to the exhibition Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, James C.Y. Watt notes that during the Qixi festival, which occurred on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, ‘the streets of the city, especially in the capitals, would be filled with playing children dressed in waistcoats and holding a lotus leaf or plant. They were as the records tell us, imitating the mo-hou-lo, the cult object of the festival’, p. 110.
Compare a carving of the twin boys, Hehe Erxian, included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 168; another from the collection of Dr Frank Kramer, sold in our New York rooms, 28th/29th September 1989,lot 511; and a third illustrated in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 175, and sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th November 2007, lot 1571.
Compare a carving of the twin boys, Hehe Erxian, included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 168; another from the collection of Dr Frank Kramer, sold in our New York rooms, 28th/29th September 1989,lot 511; and a third illustrated in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 175, and sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th November 2007, lot 1571.