A FINELY CARVED CELADON AND RUSSET JADE ‘BUFFALO AND BOY’ WATER POT AND COVER, 17TH-18TH CENTURY

拍品描述

A FINELY CARVED CELADON AND RUSSET JADE ‘BUFFALO AND BOY’ WATER POT AND COVER, 17TH-18TH CENTURY China. The recumbent buffalo with legs tucked underneath the large heavy body, the lowered head resting with finely incised horns curling towards its back, a rope attached to its nose also curling over its left shoulder, together with a separate cover rendered as a smiling boy holding an ear of rice in one hand and with a hat balancing on his feet. The stone of a pale greenish-white tone with russet-brown patches and veins as well as cloudy inclusions. (2) Dimensions: Length 8.7 cm The image of a boy with a buffalo was extremely popular and auspicious. In the catalogue entry for an earlier jade carving of a boy and buffalo in James C. Y. Watt, Chinese Jades From Han to Ch'ing, no. 47, Watt writes that “Boys riding on ch'ing-pai porcelain water-droppers of the Yuan period often hold ears of rice, ho, in their hands, a pun for ho meaning harmony.” As a familiar beast of the fields, the buffalo underpinned rice production and the rural economy. As such it is emblematic of agriculture and spring time, and represents strength, endurance, dedication to hard work, prosperity and tranquillity. It is also used in artistic representation, in particular in Chinese paintings, to evoke a bucolic, idealised existence in the countryside. This in turn feeds into a more mythical or spiritual side to the buffalo, recalling both Buddhist and Daoist concerns with simplicity and retreat, and the founder of Daoism, the philosopher Laozi, who departed from the borders of the known world on a buffalo. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s New York, 23 September 2022, lot 736 Price: USD 18,900 or approx. EUR 18,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related subject, modeling, manner of carving, stone, and form. Note the size (14.5 cm) and missing cover. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s London, 6 November 2012, lot 10 Price: GBP 37,250 or approx. EUR 64,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and manner of carving, with the boy similarly holding an ear of rice (or “stalk of millet” as written by Christie’s). Note the size (12.4 cm).

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