Lot 2904. A large finely carved imperial white jade finger citron, foshou, Qing dynasty, 18th century; 8 5/8 in. (22 cm.) wide. Estimate HKD 2,000,000 - HKD 3,000,000. Price Realized HKD 3,860,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

Naturalistically carved to imitate a fruit with curled finger-like tendrils and supported on a pierced gnarled stalk extending around the sides and issuing clusters of leaves, the stone of an even greenish-white tone with minor scattered darker inclusions, wood stand.

Provenance: A French private collection
Roger Keverne Ltd., London.

Literature: Roger Keverne (ed.), Jade, London, 1991, fig. 94. 

Note: Although finger citrons were a popular subject for jade lapidaries of the Qing dynasty, the present example is of an exceptionally large size. Other smaller examples include one in the Seattle Art Museum illustrated by J. Watt, Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1988, p. 99, no. 79; a group included in the exhibition, Minor Arts of China, IV, Spink & Sons, London, 1989, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 124, no. 174; and an example from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1396.

Jade carvings of this fruit are also found hollowed as vases, for example, a pale celadon jade vase from the Victoria and Albert Museum, included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Oriental Ceramic Society, 1975, Catalogue no. 406; a white jade example from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by Geoffrey Wills, Jade of the East, New York, 1972, fig. 65; and a large yellow jade vase from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 52.

Pale greenish-white jade carved in the form of fingered-citrons, with foliage, large and a small fruit with finely-carved fingers providing two receptacles, 17th century, Wells bequest, 1685-1882. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Buddha’s hand, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Jade (nephrite). H. 6 3/8 in. (16.2 cm); W. 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm); D. 2 5/16 in. (5.9 cm). Gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902, 02.18.589. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Finger citrons are not edible unless preserved with salt or sugar but were known to have been used by Empress Cixi to fragrance rooms in the Palace. Their auspicious symbolism derives from the play on the Chinese word for finger citron, foshou, homophonous with the words for blessings, fu, and longevity, shou.