A pale green and greyish-white jade 'sage and boy' group


18th century The elderly bearded figure superbly carved standing with a gentle facial expression wearing a cloth cap and long voluminous robes, holding a boy supported on a barrel at his front, the boy grasping a coin incised with two characters tai ping (peace) at his chest, the smoothly polished stone of a greenish-white and pinkish-grey tone, wood stand, box. 7cm (2 3/4in) high. (3).
|十八世紀 青白玉雕壽老童子立鼓擺件Provenance:An English private collectionMarchant, London來源：英國私人舊藏倫敦MarchantSee an example of a jade boy resting on a barrel, Ming dynasty, illustrated in Exquisite Jade Carving, Hong Kong, 1996, no.21.青玉質，略泛粉紅，幾如肉色，圓雕壽老扶童子抱錢立於鼓上，壽老頭戴樸頭，身著長袍，繫絲絛，大額長髯，砣刀斜刻衣褶，打磨細膩，童子總角，著短衫，抱銅錢，錢上陰刻「太平」二字，鼓光素無紋，惟上下浮雕箍環兩匝。擊鼓童子的題材源自傳說觀音的招財童子下凡擊鼓的傳說，象徵太平富貴，本件拍品之童子手執太平銅錢，即是點明這一象徵寓意。可參考一件明代玉雕童子倚鼓擺件，見香港大學展覽圖錄《Exquisite Jade Carving》，香港，1996年，編號21。