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A superb white jade 'pomegranate' carving Qianlong image 1
A superb white jade 'pomegranate' carving Qianlong image 2
A superb white jade 'pomegranate' carving Qianlong image 3
A superb white jade 'pomegranate' carving Qianlong image 4
Lot 174

A superb white jade 'pomegranate' carving
Qianlong

8 November 2012, 10:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

£120,000 - £180,000

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A superb white jade 'pomegranate' carving

Qianlong
Finely worked to depict two pomegranates borne on gnarled leafy branches, the ripe fruit with a delicate five-petalled bloom at its top split to reveal a wealth of seeds, the softly-polished stone of even white tone with minor russet inclusions.
11.2cm (4½in) wide

Footnotes

Provenance: a European private collection, purchased before 1966, and thence by descent.
Sold in these rooms, 5 November 2009, lot 276

清乾隆 白玉雕雙石榴

來源: 歐洲私人收藏,於1966年前購得,並由家族繼承下去
邦瀚斯,倫敦,2009年11月5日,拍賣品號276

The splitting pomegranate is a popular subject in Chinese art as it forms a pun, 榴開百子 liukai baizi, symbolising a wish for the birth of many children, especially boys. The present lot is exceptional for its highly-skilled treatment of the jade, rendering the fullness and delicacy of the fruit in the hard but precious and lustrous stone. Particularly notable are the gentle undulations and indentations, such as the seeds bursting through the skin, which contrast with the crispness of the gnarled branch and petals.

Compare a similar but pale green double pomegranate group illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Jade 9, Qing Dynasty, Beijing and Hefei, 2011, no.162. Compare also a smaller related white jade pomegranate group from the Tuyet Nguyet collection, illustrated by H.K. Hui and T.Y.Pang, curators, and T.Y.Pang and J.Sze, eds., Virtuous Treasures: Chinese Jades for the Scholar's Table, Hong Kong, 2008, Catalogue no.115.

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