Beschreibung:

A FINE SMALL CHINESE WHITE JADE FIGURE OF A BOY
18TH CENTURY
The crouching child holds a large leafy branch of fruiting peaches in both hands, his finely detailed face bearing a joyful expression, with his incised hair tied up in two buns, depicted wearing bracelets and a loose robe, the pale stone of a fine white tone, with a russet area to one of the peaches, together with a wood stand, 6.9cm. (2)
Provenance: the Lawrence Collection of jades and hardstone carvings, purchased from Roger Keverne Limited on 15th June 2010. A copy of the invoice is available.
Published: R Keverne, Summer Exhibition 2010, pp.116-117, no.90.
Children are one of the most popular subjects in Chinese art, and they are often portrayed holding plants. Representations of young boys holding leafy branches appeared in jade carvings as early as the Song dynasty and, whilst the subject matter varies, they are often depicted with branches of lotus rather than peaches. As peaches are believed to be the food of the Immortals, and thus a symbol of longevity, this may suggest that the present figure was intended as a birthday gift.
Cf. R Kleiner, Chinese Jades from The Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, pp.230-231, no.181 for a comparable jade; see also J Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, no.27:3 for another similar example; see also Symposium on Chinese Jades from Sui and Tang to Qing Dynasties, p.205, figs.31 and 32 for related items in the collection of the Shanghai Museum; see also G Xue, Zhongguo Yuqi Shangjian, p.215, no.408 for another comparable piece; see also G Zhang, Mingdai Yuqi, p.189, fig.129 for a related carving dated as Ming in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.