A RARE 18th CENTURY PALE CELADON JADE CARVING OF ZHANG QIAN ON A LOG RAFT

The stone of even pale celadon hue with spare russet highlights
China, 18th century


This masterly carved jade group shows the Han Dynasty statesman Zhang Qian, seated inside a large hollowed log with a tree-form stern. He is accompanied by a young servant who is in charge of the oar and a crane is also depicted, resting inside the log. The carving is of very fine quality best visible in the russet highlighted leafage of the tree or the knot-holes covering the entire vessel.

Zhang Qian was a Han dynasty imperial envoy and traveler. The subject of Zhang Qian in his log boat was a popular theme during the Ming and early Qing periods, and is most often seen in horn carvings, such as the three examples illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 44 - Bamboo, Wood, and Horn Carvings, Hong Kong 1999, nos. 118-20. Horn examples are in numerous public and private collections, several of which are illustrated by T. Fok, Connoisseurship of Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, nos. 70-4. The representations of Zhang Qian, as well as the log raft, vary in these carvings.

These carvings, as well as the present jade vessel, may all have been inspired by the famous silver example formerly in the collection of the late Lady Percival David included in the exhibition, Chinese Art under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968, no. 37.

Shape: Figural shape
Dimensions: 10,5 cm (length), 9 cm (height)
Weight: 68.5 grams
Condition: very good condition with some miniscule natural flaws in the mineral
Provenance: American private Museum collection

Auction results comparison: For two raft-form jades with Zhang Qian and of the same period see Christie’s, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I, 13 - 14 September 2012, New York, lot 1024 or Christie’s, Fine Chinese Ceramics, Paintings and Works of Art, New York, Park Avenue, 22 March 1999, lot 29.

十八世紀罕見青白玉雕張騫
青白色夾雜褐色沁斑
中國， 十八世紀

造型：人物型造
尺寸：長10,5 厘米，高9 厘米
重量： 68.5 克
品相：極好，稍有玉石天然缺陷
來源：美國私人美術館收藏