A pale green and russet jade carving of an elephant and groom
18th century
The rounded stone attractively lined with russet tones and carved as a charmingly-wrinkled elephant turning its head to the left and covered with a fringed blanket incised with the yinyang symbol and bats amid cloud scrolls, while a young groom clambers on his back clutching a riding crop and a ruyi sceptre suspending a decorative tassel.
11.7cm (4½in) wide
The rounded stone attractively lined with russet tones and carved as a charmingly-wrinkled elephant turning its head to the left and covered with a fringed blanket incised with the yinyang symbol and bats amid cloud scrolls, while a young groom clambers on his back clutching a riding crop and a ruyi sceptre suspending a decorative tassel.
11.7cm (4½in) wide
Sold for
£18,750
inc. premium
Footnotes
- Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York
十八世紀 青玉帶皮雕童子洗象
來源: 紐約Ralph M. Chait Galleries
The phrase 'ride an elephant' 騎象 qixiang, has a similar pronunciation as jixiang 吉祥 (good fortune). Boys riding on an elephant with a ruyi thus represent the meaning of jixiang ruyi 吉祥如意, which stands for 'good fortune as you wish'.
Compare a related example from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pl.97. See also a similar greenish white jade of an elephant and groom, illustrated in the catalogue of the exhibition Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1996, p.185.
Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art
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