A yellow jade 'bird and flowers' pomander and cover, Ming dynasty
Lot 156. A yellow jade 'bird and flowers' pomander and cover, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 4.8 by 7cm. Lot sold: 756,000 HKD (Estimate: 50,000 - 70,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2022
fashioned in the form of a silk purse with gathered pleats, carved in low relief on one side with a bird in a lotus pond, the other side adorned with sprigs of aster flowers, the neck set with two small apertures for attachment, the smoothly polished stone of a yellowish-celadon tone with russet patches and white inclusions.
Provenance: Chung Wah Pui, Hong Kong, 6th April 1993.
Literature: Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 25:33.
Exhibited: British Museum, London, on loan, 1995 and 2002-15.
Sotheby's. HOTUNG The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1, Hong Kong, 9 October 2022