A RARE JADE FIGURE OF AN ELEPHANT SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG |

the substantial stone worked in the form of a recumbent elephant with its head turned to the left and its tail swished to its left haunch, the animal depicted with characteristic floppy ears and folds of wrinkles, the underside incised with a four-character seal mark, the stone of a variegated celadon, brown and grey colour accentuated with white patches, yellow label

A German private collection, acquired before 1922, thence by descent.
Sotheby's Paris, 11th December 2014, lot 161.

This charming figure of a reclining elephant captures the innate strength and tranquillity associated with the creature in China. Modelled in the round with its head turned to the left and resting on top of its curling trunk, a sense of sweetness and tenderness is indicated by the smiling eyes and gentle smile and further accentuated through the masterfully rendered ripples of skin around the neck and legs. Further evidence of the craftsman’s proficiency in the medium is evident in the exquisitely modelled ears, which have been skilfully hollowed to give a naturalistic impression of large folded flaps of thick skin. Captured in an archaistic Song style in both carving and selection of stone, Qianlong period elephants of this type are less common than the white jade versions that stand four-square; a comparable figure carved from grey and russet jade, but with its front legs outstretched, was sold in our New York rooms, 24th March 1998, lot 383; and a pale grey version, but looking ahead, attributed to the 17th/18th century, is illustrated in Roger Keverne, Jade, London, 1001, pl. 70. See also a green and russet jade figure of a standing elephant with head turned and fashioned in a similar style, from the Woolf collection, included in the exhibition Later Chinese Jades, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1995, cat. no. 6, and published in The Woolf Collection of Chinese Jade, London, 2013, pl. 97. For a Song dynasty prototype, compare a figure of a reclining elephant included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. no. 100.

The elephant is traditionally an auspicious animal symbolic of peace and strength. In Buddhism a grey elephant represents the uncontrolled mind of a person at the beginning of their practice of dharma, while a white elephant represents the tamed mind. In Chinese folklore, the elephant is a symbol of peace and the phrase 'taiping youxiang, yutang fugui' (may there be peace and may your noble house be blessed with wealth and honour) is one that is traditionally used during New Year celebrations.