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A LARGE GRAY AND RUSSET JADE 'WASHING THE ELEPHANT' GROUP, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
奥地利
2025年10月16日 开拍
拍品描述
China. Superbly carved in the round to depict an elephant standing foursquare, its massive head turned slightly to the right, with the trunk gracefully curled between its tusks to reach one of the ears. A boy dressed in voluminous robes sits on the minutely wrinkled back of the animal, pouring water from a flask onto the skin of the elephant while brandishing a brush in his other hand to scrub its folds. The semi-translucent stone of a creamy white tone with gray shadings and suffused with russet veins and patches that blend harmoniously across the surface.Provenance: An old private collection in Taiwan. A noted private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above between around 1995 and 2005, and thence by descent.Condition: Excellent condition with minimal wear. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into fine hairline cracks.Weight: 2,168 gDimensions: Length 15.6 cmWith a padded silk storage box. (2)The subject matter of a boy assisting an elephant embodies multiple layers of meaning and auspicious symbolism in traditional Chinese art and culture. The phrase 'qi xiang' meaning 'to ride an elephant' is a homophone of 'ji xiang', which signifies 'good fortune', thus imbuing such imagery with propitious connotations. Additionally, depictions of boys cleaning or 'washing the elephant' serve as a visual pun symbolizing the act of sweeping away the phenomena of the outside world. This interpretation arises from the fact that word 'xiang' can signify both 'elephant' and 'image', reinforcing the metaphorical association between worldly appearances and illusion.Representing physical and mental strength, the elephant is associated with Buddhism. The Shakyamuni Buddha was born as an elephant in one of his previous incarnations and in Buddhist iconography, the bodhisattva Samantabhadra rides on a white elephant. The Qianlong Emperor was clearly aware of such representations. A court painting by Ding Guanpeng (fl. 1726-1770) depicts the Emperor as Samantabhadra, seated next to his elephant, which slightly turns its head to his rider while its wrinkled skin is being washed by caring attendants, see The All Complete Qianlong: The Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong, Taipei, 2013, cat. no. III-2.5.Literature comparison: The scene of washing the elephant is well known and can be found on a related jade group in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (III), vol. 42, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 98; and on a jade boulder in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, p. 44.Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie's New York, 25 March 2022, lot 1260 Price: USD 75,600 or approx. EUR 73,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing : A creamy white jade figure of an elephant, Qing dynasty Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject, with a similar composition, poses, and wrinkly skin. Note the size (12.3 cm) and the creamy white color lacking the attractive russet inclusions of the present lot. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie's New York, 21 March 2019, lot 1174 Price: USD 50,000 or approx. EUR 54,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing : A pale greyish green jade figure of an elephant and boy, China, Qing dynasty, 18th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, manner of carving, and size (16.5 cm). Note that according to the Christie's description, the stone shows “some opaque buff mottling and brown mottling on the reverse”.

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拍品估价:2,400 - 5,000 欧元 起拍价格:2,400 欧元  买家佣金:

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