Lot 59. A white and russet jade mandarin fish, Qing dynasty, early 18th century. Estimate HKD 120,000 — 180,000 (13,547 - 20,320 EUR). Lot Sold 312,500 HKD (35,279 EUR). Photo: Sotheby's.

worked naturalistically in the form of a swimming mandarin fish with circular pectoral and tail fins and a spiky dorsal fin, grasping in its mouth a curled leafy spray of millet, the stone of an opaque milky-white tone suffused with caramel-russet inclusions, wood stand; 15.3 cm, 6 in.

Provenance: Dunt King, Hong Kong, 1966.
Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1967 (£48:16:4).
Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1967 (£110).

Note: The mandarin fish (guiyu) is homophonous with the character for ‘wealth and honour’, while the word yu is also a homophone for ‘abundance’. The millet (sui) forms a pun on the phrase for 'year after year'; hence this piece conveys wishes for wealth and abundance year after year.

While similar carvings of mandarin fishes are known they are usually depicted with lotus; such as one included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1975, cat. no. 405; and another sold in our London rooms, 15th May 2013, lot 50.