Jade. China, late Qing-Dynasty to Republic, approx. 1900
Very amusing rendition, an unusual work in this respect. The hard mineral is elaborately well rounded! The cat, bearing the humorously rendered head more similar to a dog’s, is wearing a twisted collar with a bell on the front as well as a bow on the back, and has a long tail with a volute at the end. Sitting on the hind thigh is a butterfly. Cat and butterfly symbolize the wish to reach “old ageâ€. In Chinese, the cat is, onomatopoeically, referred to as Mao, which is a homophone of Mao “eighty year-old manâ€. The butterfly also holds a connection to “old†and is also an allegory to the “man in loveâ€, because he draws nectar from the calyx (= female). Grey-green colour of the jade (nephrite), more yellowish with light shining through.
LENGTH 7,1 CM
From a Hungarian private collection