A WHITE JADE 'LOTUS' TEAPOT AND COVER QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY |

well hollowed with deep lobed sides rising from a furled lotus leaf forming the foot and sweeping up to an everted rim, flanked by a curved foliate spout opposite bundled stems forming the handle, the curved stems extended around the sides issuing lotus blooms and further leaves, the domed cover worked in the form of a veined lotus leaf, surmounted by a finial in the form of a recumbent bird clasping further leafy floral sprays in its beak, the stone of an even white tone

This sophisticated teapot is remarkable for its elegant lotus leaf design, with floral sprigs and leaves fluidly carved in relief while curling stems frame one side of the vessel to form a handle. It belongs to a distinct group of jade ware popular from the 18th century, whose complex and precisely executed floral designs display both the artistic skill and technical know-how of jade carvers of that period, and an increasing taste for elaborate works of art.   A slightly smaller teapot and cover of similar design was sold in these rooms, 29th November 1979, lot 419, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th April 1996, lot 706; one of more compressed form is illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva, 1976, pl. B 76; another was sold in our New York rooms, 24th October 1980, lot 63; and a further teapot was sold at Christie’s London, 17th December 1981, lot 453.

This design on this piece is closely associated with academic success – the recumbent bird carved on the knob is an egret lu, homophonic with the Chinese word for road, whilst the lotus, lian and its seeds ke, are a pun for lianke, a phrase that can be translated as “passing the civil service examinations, one after the other”. Together, these symbols form the rebus yilu lianke, “May you pass your civil service exams all the way”.