A finely carved pale green and russet jade 'bamboo and phoenix' brush holder


QianlongFinely carved in the form of a bamboo shoot forming the vase, on side carved in openwork and high relief with a phoenix standing besides pierced rocks, its head rising and grasping a peony flower branch in its beak, the reverse further with two leafy bamboo shoots, the stone of greyish white tone with areas of brown inclusions, wood stand. 9.8cm (4in) high (2).
|清乾隆 青玉沁色巧雕立鳳竹節形筆筒Provenance:Anthony Evans, no.216, purchased from S. Marchant & Son, London in 1974Marchant, LondonExhibited, Published and Illustrated:Marchant, 90th Anniversary Exhibition: Ninety Jades for 90 Years, London, 2015, no.13來源：英國肯特郡Anthony Evans舊藏，編號216，於1974年購於倫敦S. Marchant & Son倫敦Marchant展覽、出版及著錄：Marchant，《玉器九十，90週年特展》，倫敦，2015年，編號13The phoenix together with the peony form the rebus fugui jixiang or 'May there be wealth, rank and good fortune.' When combined with bamboo, zhu, it forms the rebus fengming zai zhu, 'The phoenix singing among the bamboo', which is also a symbol of peace.Compare with a closely related pair of white jade weights with similar decorations in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by M.Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, p.67, pl.71. See also a phoenix and bamboo brush holder from the Avery Brundage collection, illustrated by He Li, Later Chinese Jades Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century from the Asian At Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, 2007, p.268, no.290.A similar example was sold at Christie's Paris, 13 December 2017, lot 153.青玉質，半帶棕褐色沁，青玉部分掏膛作竹節形，表面雕竹枝二，沁色部分巧雕立鳳一隻，鳳昂首，口銜牡丹，花葉繁碩，羽翼豐滿，刻劃細緻，單腿而立，一爪向前，側倚山石，山石多孔而嶙峋。此件立意新奇，巧用料色，雕鳳極具神采。鳳凰與竹常相伴出現在清代藝術中，有「鳳鳴在竹」、「富貴吉祥」之吉祥寓意，其來源或可追溯到西漢桓寬著《鹽鐵論》：「南方有鳥名鵷鶵，非竹實不食」的典故，鵷鶵即為鸞鳳一類神鳥。相同題材的玉雕作品可參考英國維多利亞及阿爾伯特博物館所藏一對清代青玉雕鸞鳳鳴竹軸墜，風格和本品頗似，見劉明倩著，《Chinese Jades》, 倫敦，2004年，圖版71，頁67；舊金山亞洲藝術博物館藏一件十九世紀鳳鳴雙篁花插則與本品更似，見Michael Knight, He Li等著《Later Chinese Jades Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century from the Asian At Museum of San Francisco》, 舊金山，2007，頁268，編號290。另可參考佳士得巴黎2017年12月13日售出一件清代白玉帶皮鳳紋竹式花插，拍品編號153。