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The Property of a Lady 女士藏品
Lot 32
A rare large grey and pale green jade 'lotus leaf' brushwasher 17th/18th century
4 June 2015, 10:30 HKT
Hong Kong, Six Pacific PlaceSold for HK$225,000 inc. premium
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A rare large grey and pale green jade 'lotus leaf' brushwasher
17th/18th century
Finely carved as a deeply hollowed vessel in the form of a large lotus leaf, incised with veins elegantly rising up to the curved foliate rim, all borne on leafy winding stems issuing a large lotus blossom on one side, the reverse with a lone swallow in flight with its head turned backwards, the greyish-pale-green stone with russet inclusions, wood stand.
26.2cm (10 3/8in) wide (2).
Finely carved as a deeply hollowed vessel in the form of a large lotus leaf, incised with veins elegantly rising up to the curved foliate rim, all borne on leafy winding stems issuing a large lotus blossom on one side, the reverse with a lone swallow in flight with its head turned backwards, the greyish-pale-green stone with russet inclusions, wood stand.
26.2cm (10 3/8in) wide (2).
Footnotes
十七/十八世紀 青灰玉雕荷葉洗
Provenance 來源:
Acquired from Louis Joseph, London (label, no.6793)
An English private collection and thence by descent
購自倫敦古董商Louis Joseph (附標籤，編號6793）
英國私人收藏，並由家族繼承
The present lot would have graced the desk of a high ranking official or scholar, reminding the owner of the lotus's famed ability to remain 'unstained by the muddy surrounding'. Scholar-officials who refused to compromise their integrity liked to compare themselves with the purity of the lotus, symbolism further imbued with its Buddhist religious significance and association. The swallow, carved on one side of the washer, symbolises the heralding of good fortune to come and a prosperous change for the better.
Compare a related pale green jade lotus washer, 18th century, from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by M.Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, pl.56; for another related washer, Qing dynasty, from the Qing Court Collection, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (II), Hong Kong, 2008, pl.39.
A related but smaller white and dark grey jade 'lotus leaf' brushwasher, 17th/18th century (21.1cm wide), sold at Christie's New York, 19-20 September 2013, lot 1739.
倫敦維多利亞阿爾伯博物館藏一件十八世紀青玉荷葉洗可資比較，見M.Wilson，《Chinese Jades》，倫敦，2004年，圖版56；另見清宮舊藏一例，著錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：玉器（II）》，香港，2008年，圖版39；另一件例子，可見紐約佳士得，2013年9月19至20日，拍品1739。