Description:
A WHITE JADE MONKEY GROUP, 18TH CENTURY
China. Humorous scene with a seated monkey holding up a peach while its cub attempts to grab the ripe fruit by pulling down the arm of its parent! Both are portrayed with wrinkled foreheads and protruding spines. The stone of superbly even color and with an unctuous finish.
Provenance: John Sparks Ltd., London (original label to base). English private collection, acquired from the above. Roger Keverne Ltd., London, 2012 (publsihed as lot 72 in the Roger Keverne catalogue). Lowenthal Collection, nr. 76, acquired from the above for 32.000,- pounds sterling (see Keverne pricelist). Hans Lowenthal was born in Frankfurt, Germany. His father Julius Lowenthal invented the first semi-automatic lighter in history in 1928 and named it Colibri. In 1953, Hans Lowenthal joined Colibri and was its Managing Director for 25 years. He enjoyed designing and creating new products, among them the ‘Golden Gun’ of notorious hitman Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’. Julius Lowenthal began collecting jades in the 1950s, later purchasing from Hugh Moss, Roger Keverne, Michael Gillingham, and Marchants. He was particularly passionate about tactile jade carvings of animals.
Condition: Excellent condition with only very natural flaws to mineral.
Weight: 105.8 grams (monkeys) 25.3 grams (stand)
Dimensions: Height 6.3 cm (monkey) and 9.3 cm (including stand)
Note the fine matching wooden stand, finely carved in openwork, with further peaches amid their leaves and vines. (2)
The homophone for monkey (hou), one of the twelve zodiac animals, is ‘nobleman’ or ‘high official’ as well as ‘descendants’. The monkey therefore represents the wish for success for one’s descendants. The representation of monkey and peach relates to the legendary Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, who stole the peaches of immortality; when shown with a baby monkey as in the present lot, an additional rebus is formed of beibei fenghou, ‘may generations of your descendants gain official salaries’. Therefore, the present lot bestows the auspicious wishes for success and longevity for future generations.
Auction result comparison: Compare with a closely related jade carving of monkey and cub with a peach, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on April 16th, 2016, in Important Chinese Art, lot 3708.
十八世紀白玉靈猴獻壽把件
中國。生動活潑的場景,一隻大猴子手持一個仙桃,她的幼仔試圖去搶那桃子。兩者的後頭都刻有皺紋。玉石顔色均匀,表面光滑。
來源:倫敦John Sparks Ltd.(底部原始標簽);英國私人收藏, 購於上述收藏;倫敦Roger Keverne Ltd., 2012。Lowenthal 收藏, 76號,購於上述收藏。Hans Lowenthal 生於德國法蘭克福,其父親Julius 1928年發明了第一臺半自動打火機,取名爲科勒比,並擔任了25年經理。他對古董的多功能性充滿了熱情。Julius Lowenthal 在上世紀五十年代開始收藏玉器,之後從Hugh Moss、Roger Keverne、Michael Gillingham及 Marchants。他特別鍾情於動物玉雕。
品相:品相極好,僅有玉石天然裂縫。
重量:105.8 克 (猴子);25.3 克 (底座)
尺寸:高6.3 厘米 (猴子) ;9.3 厘米 (含底座