CHINE, XIXEME-XXEME SIECLE Le groupe représente un grand bélier couché avec ses deux petits à ses c?tés. Les cornes, les yeux ainsi que les oreilles sont finement sculptés de manière réaliste. Larg: 13 cm. (5 1/8 in.), socle
The ram is a symbol of filial piety, kindness and patience. The three rams, san yang, are also an auspicious motif, related both to the sun and to male children, as they provide a rebus for san yang kai tai, 'the opening up of the new growth in spring', which in turn symbolises happiness and good fortune. Compare with three jade groups of the three rams in the Palace Museum, Beijing, two illustrated in
Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 6, pp. 186 and 210, pls. 269 and 307; and another larger group illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 88, p. 108; one in the Tianjin Municipal Museum, illustrated in Cang Yu, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 216; a group included in S. Marchant & Son's 80th Anniversary Exhibition, Chinese Jades from Han to Qing, London, 2005, Catalogue, p. 78, no. 74; another from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot 1560; and another also from the Hartman Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1418.