Adam's FINE ASIAN ART Part I 28th & Part II 29th June 2022

22 1 PROPERTY FROM THE F.G. COLLECTION OF JADE CARVINGS A RARE AND IMPORTANT WHITE JADE ‘MELON AND BUTTERFLY’ - 瓜瓞綿綿’ LINKED BOX AND COVER CHINA, QING DYNASTY, LIKELY QIANLONG PERIOD This lidded box has been carved out of a single piece / boulder of milky white jade, has been naturalistically shaped as a melon together with a butterfly and with entwined gnarled branches linking the box to its cover ( the stalk linked with a loop handle). It has been carved on all sides with details, tendrils and leaves. The skilful carver has cleverly used the jade boulder’s orange skin to complete the iconography with russets left on leaves and on the butterfly. H: 3 cm – L: 8 cm – w: 5,5 cm Weight: 138,34 grams Provenance: From an Irish Estate, the F.G. Collection of Jades offered at public auction - but for that box - at Bonham’s London, UK, Sale no 16022, 2008-11-06. The successful bidder will be provided with a catalog of that sale as well as with a video of the jade carvings in the house. Of notable interest in that auction was lot #202, a jade bowl dated to the Qianlong period. 1. This box and cover may demonstrate the remarkable skill and craftsmanship practiced in the jade workshops reaching its peak during the Qianlong reign. The two perfectly fitting halves of the melon and interlocking loose loop-handle joining them together are all carved from a single block of jade, which would have required consummate skill and precision. 2. The melon and butterfly form the rebus ‘guadie mianmian’ ( 瓜瓞綿綿 ), which is a wish for numerous descendants. This was a popular motif during the Qing dynasty, and there are several white jade bottles with this motif illustrated in Chang Lin-sheng, Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1991, nos. 142, 143, 145, 146 and 153. 3. See a related Qianlong period jade ‘bitter-melon’ linked box and cover sold at Bonham’s Hong Kong, China, 2017-11-28, lot 26, for € 91,170. See another related Qianlong period ‘peach-form’ box and cover sold at Christie’s New York, USA, 2011-09-15, lot 1020, for USD 120,100. 珍稀白玉“瓜瓞綿綿” 中国，清代，似乾隆时期 € 6,000 - 8,000 +