A WHITE JADE ‘RABBIT’ ZODIAC PENDANT, CHINA, 18TH CENTURY

Expert’s note:
The quality of the stone and the workmanship on this plaque is outstanding, pointing to it being an Imperial commission, one of a group of Imperial white jade ornaments decorated with twelve Chinese zodiac figures in anthropomorphic forms and their associated Earthly Branches represented by archaic Chinese characters.

Finely carved in low relief to one side with the figure of a rabbit wearing celestial robes and billowing scarves while holding a fan, well detailed with almond-shaped eyes and tall pointed ears, framed by scrolling and angular designs below a central stylized lotus blossom, the reverse carved with an archaic character, pierced above and below the central panel for suspension. The translucent, smoothly polished stone is of a white tone with few minute russet and icy inclusions.


Inscriptions:
To the back, ‘mao’ (referring to the Earthly Branch associated with the Rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac).


Provenance:
British trade.

Condition:
Very good condition with expected minor wear and tiny nibbles here and there. The stone with natural inclusions and fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks.

Weight: 40.7 g
Dimensions: Length 5.1 cm


Literature comparison:

See a complete set of twelve jade carvings depicting all the zodiac figures from the Qing Court collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Jadeware (III), vol. 42, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 111, pp. 132-133.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 15 May 2012, lot 75
Price: GBP 37,250 or approx.
EUR 69,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white jade pendant, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of carving, subject with near identical rabbit to one side and the same character ‘mao’ to the other (albeit also with a trigram roundel), and white color. Note the size (6.3 cm).




十八世紀十二生肖“兔“白玉牌

一面淺浮雕身著仙袍的兔子，身著仙袍，手持扇子，細節精緻，高尖的耳朵，惟妙惟肖。玉牌上端蓮紋，四周回字紋，背面刻有”卯“字。玉牌上下中央有穿孔用於懸掛。白色玉石半透明，表面光滑，帶有少量微小的赤褐色和內沁。


來源：
英國古玩交易。

品相：
狀況極好，有輕微磨損和磕損。玉石上有天然内沁和裂隙。

重量：40.7 克
尺寸：長 5.1 厘米


文獻比較:

一組清宮收藏十二生肖玉雕，見故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集 (III)，卷42，香港，1995年，編號111，頁132-133。


拍賣比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：倫敦佳士得，2012年5月15日，lot 75
價格：GBP 37,250（相當今日
EUR 69,000
）
描述：清十八世紀白玉牌
專家註釋：比較非常相近的雕刻風格，一面幾乎相同的兔子，另一面 刻有”卯“字，以及白玉顏色。請注意尺寸 (6.3 厘米)。