A RARE CARVED BOXWOOD 'ELEPHANT' GROUPLate Qing Dynasty The large beast expertly carved with naturalistic wrinkles standing foursquare with its head lumbering slightly to the right, the long trunk curled up to its right side feeling for a vase of ruyi held by a foreigner with long flowing robes and a conical hat, above the rounded caparisoned back incised with lotus are a further two figures crouching, holding between them a basket of lingzhi fungus, box. 10.7cm (4 1/8in) high. (2).FootnotesPlease note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價 清晚期 黃楊木雕太平有象 Provenance: The Peony collection Sotheby's Hong Kong, 31 May 2018, lot 338 Exhibited, Published and Illustrated: The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, Art and Imitation in China, Hong Kong, 2006, no.50. 來源：牡丹堂舊藏 香港蘇富比，2018年5月31日，拍品編號338 展覽著錄：《馳騁古今：中國藝術的摹仿與創新》，香港東方陶瓷學會，香港，2006年，編號50 The present lot is replete with auspicious meaning. The 'vase' (ping 瓶) carried by the foreigner which puns with 'peace' (ping 平), and elephant (xiang 象) which also means 'sign' or 'portent', forms a rebus for the phrase taiping youxiang (太平有象), meaning 'Where there is peace, there is an omen (or elephant!)'. Furthermore, the figures on top, being elephant-riders (qixiang, 騎象) form a rebus for jixiang, 吉祥, 'blessings'. The boys interpreted here as the Twin Immortals, the Hehe Erxian, symbolic of harmony and union, lend good wishes for a happy marriage, suggesting that perhaps the group was intended as a wedding gift. See a related boxwood carving of an ox and qilin, early Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, p.57.
A RARE CARVED BOXWOOD 'ELEPHANT' GROUPLate Qing Dynasty The large beast expertly carved with naturalistic wrinkles standing foursquare with its head lumbering slightly to the right, the long trunk curled up to its right side feeling for a vase of ruyi held by a foreigner with long flowing robes and a conical hat, above the rounded caparisoned back incised with lotus are a further two figures crouching, holding between them a basket of lingzhi fungus, box. 10.7cm (4 1/8in) high. (2).FootnotesPlease note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價 清晚期 黃楊木雕太平有象 Provenance: The Peony collection Sotheby's Hong Kong, 31 May 2018, lot 338 Exhibited, Published and Illustrated: The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, Art and Imitation in China, Hong Kong, 2006, no.50. 來源：牡丹堂舊藏 香港蘇富比，2018年5月31日，拍品編號338 展覽著錄：《馳騁古今：中國藝術的摹仿與創新》，香港東方陶瓷學會，香港，2006年，編號50 The present lot is replete with auspicious meaning. The 'vase' (ping 瓶) carried by the foreigner which puns with 'peace' (ping 平), and elephant (xiang 象) which also means 'sign' or 'portent', forms a rebus for the phrase taiping youxiang (太平有象), meaning 'Where there is peace, there is an omen (or elephant!)'. Furthermore, the figures on top, being elephant-riders (qixiang, 騎象) form a rebus for jixiang, 吉祥, 'blessings'. The boys interpreted here as the Twin Immortals, the Hehe Erxian, symbolic of harmony and union, lend good wishes for a happy marriage, suggesting that perhaps the group was intended as a wedding gift. See a related boxwood carving of an ox and qilin, early Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, p.57.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
