Adam's FINE ASIAN ART 28th,29th,30th Preview June 2022

24 A RARE JADE ‘LOTUS’ VESSEL CHINA, QING DYNASTY Carved out of a single piece of pale celadon jade accented with russet highlights. It is shaped as a lotus vessel adorned with naturalistic pods, flowers, curled leaves and other tendrils rising from the waves, two flying swallows encircling the upper portion. Offered together with a wood stand carved with clouds. H (stand excluded): 20 cm Weight: 623 grams Provenance (by repute): - a private collection; - from the estate of Mr. Wan Ken Wong c. 2001; - Mrs. H. Small, North Carolina USA, acquired from the above. Notes: 1. This present jade vessel has added russet highlights to evoke the appearance of natural skin from the outside of a jade pebble or boulder, a rare and desirable feature for antique jade collectors. 2. The lotus grows out of the mud unsullied moving upwards towards the light. This symbolically represents the pursuit of en- lightenment. 3. The swallow is a bird known as the symbol of spring and they herald good fortune and a prosperous change for the better. 4. The Chinese word for lotus is ‘lianhua’ ( 莲花 ). Lian is also the pronunciation of the word for continuous ( 连 ) and he is also the pronunciation for the word harmony ( 和 ) so the lotus has the hidden meaning of ‘continuous harmony’. 5. For a published example of a similar lotus vessel, see the front cover as well as page 76 of Bartholomew and He’s ‘The Tata Col- lection of Chinese Antiquities in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya’ (formerly the Prince of Wales’s Museum). 6. A smaller but similar celadon and russet lotus vessel was sold in SOTHEBY’S Paris, France, 2010-12-16, lot 191, for €36,750. €15,000 - €30,000 PROPERTIES FROM A NOTED COLLECTOR OF JADES & SNUFFBOTTLES