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

32 15 A MOTTLED JADE CARVING OF A CHINESE CABBAGE CHINA, QING DYNASTY Naturalistically carved in a mottled stone with dark inclusions. Affixed to a wooden stand. H (with stand): 15 cm Gross weight: 398 grams Note: The cabbage (baicai 白菜 or qingcai 清菜 ) is a symbol for wealth because it has the same pronunciation as the word “money” or “wealth” (cai 财 ). 白菜斑纹玉雕 中国 € 5,000 - 7,000 16 A WHITE JADE GROUP OF TWO CATS WITH A BUTTERFLY 玉耄耋 CHINA, POSSIBLY QING DYNASTY Carved out of an almost flawless stone with a recumbent larger cat and another one climbing up its back, a butterfly next to its face. H: 3,8 cm - L: 5,6 cm - width: 2,5 cm Weight: 67,7 grams Note: 1. This peculiar subject became popular during the late Ming Dynasty when the art market developed. The reasons for this success is that both cats and butterflies convey special meanings. Indeed, the term cat ( 猫 māo) is pronounced phonetically similar to the character Mao ( 耄 mào), which means octogenarian while the second syllable of the word for butterfly (蝴蝶 hú dié) is a homophone for septuagenarian, Die (耋 dié). The combination of Mao and Die expresses the desire that someone could reach an old age. 2. See a related jade ‘cat and butterfly’ group sold at SOTHEBY’S Hong Kong, China, 2013-05-29, lot 2354. 白玉雕刻双猫戏蝴蝶- 玉耄耋 中国 € 2,000 - 4,000