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- 87 Deer with Dog
white jade with slight brown markings, length 6.3 cm Qing
McElney Collection
A recumbent deer with a flower sprig in its mouth; its head turned back to face a dog who has climbed on his back.
88 Horse
greenish white jade, length 5 cm Qing
McElney Collection
This figure of a recumbent horse with its forelegs crossed shows an unusually high standard of detail and observation.
89 Ducks with a Lotus Plant
greyish green jade with russet markings, height
4.9 cm Middle Qing McElney Collection
Realistic carving of a pair of mandarin ducks resting on a lotus leaf, holding lotus sprays in their bills. The details of the beaks, eyes, wings, heads and tail feathers as well as the veins of the lotus leaf are finely carved. The use of the skin of the pebble, the elaborate lines and the bulky lack of three-dimen�sional modelling all suggest a mid-Qing date.
90 Peaches and Bat
green jade with large mottled brown areas, length
9.7 cm
Qing
McElney Collection
Carving of two overlapping peaches with part of gnarled branches and leaves. A bat rests on one of the leaves. This carving contains a hidden message of good wishes. The peach is an emblem of longe�vity. This symbolism is probably derived from the ancient legends of the Queen Mother of the West, who possesses the supernatural peach tree whose fruits ripen every thousand years and confer immor�tality upon those who eat them. The bat is an em�blem of happiness.
91 Belt Hook
greenish white jade, length 13 cm
Middle Qing
The Reid Collection
The body of this belt hook has a slender club shape. The hook is in the form of a dragon�s head; the re�verse has a large button. There is a small dragon with a sinuous body, limbs and tail carved in open�work on the shaft.
92 Jade Book
mottled dark green jade, length 11 cm, width 8.1 cm,
thickness 2 mm
Qing-Qian Long period
Given anonymously in memory of Sir James Thorn�ton, C.B., M.B., B.A.
AGGV
Jade book of four jade pages, the decorations and text painted in gold. The front page contains the title: Poem on the four treasures of the scholar�s studio, made by imperial order or permission. The four treasures were the brush, inkstone, paper and ink. The calligraphy is done by Liu Yong (1720- 1805), a nationally renowned calligrapher, who at one point held the position of head librarian of the Imperial Library. The last page is decorated with a frontal five-clawed dragon.
The earliest Qing dynasty jade book dates from 1648 and records a title conferred by the Emperor Shun Zhi, Qian Long�s great grandfather, on his ancestor in the sixth generation. However, the idea of inscribing special texts on jade, most noble of all material, goes back much further.
93 Vase
spinach green jade, height 11.8 cm Qing
Given anonymously in memory of Sir JamesThorn- ton, C.B., M.B., B.A.
AGGV
Bottle-shaped vase of oval section with plain mouth and foot rim; the main body and neck decorated with five ribbed layers.
94 Vase
white jade, height 13 cm Middle Qing
Given anonymously in memory of Sir James Thorn�ton, C.B., M.B., B.A.
AGGV
Vase of rectangular section; a band of hanging and rising blades decorate the mouth rim and neck re�spectively; the four sides of the body are embel�lished with monster mask in archaistic style, done in thread relief. Each mask is vertically divided by a line of diapered rectangles, a conventionalized way of representing the flanges on bronze vessels.
95 Bowl
white jade, height 6.3 cm Middle Qing McElney Collection
Sensitively modelled circular bowl with flaring sides and lipped rim, stands on a broad ring-foot of rec�tangular section. The surface is smoothly polished and unadorned.
96 Arrowroots and Magpie
white jade with pale brown markings, length 6.5 cm Qing
McElney Collection
Two arrowroots with sprouting leaves and a mag�pie. In Chinese, the magpie xique and the two arrow- roots cigu make a rebus xibao shuangci, which means �happy tidings for parents.�
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