Provenance: A private European collection.
S. Marchant & Son, London.

Exhibited: 80th Anniversary Exhibition of Chinese Jades from Han to Qing, S. Marchant & Son, London, 2005, cat. no. 88.

Notes: This charming piece evidences the skill of the Qing carver through its hollowed out interior and figures that have been modelled in the round. Moreover, a heightened sense of life and vitality has been achieved by the naturalistic poses of the figures who have been caught in a moment of action.

A boat of this type, in the Tianjin Museum, Tianjin, is illustrated in Jade Wares Collected by Tianjin Museum, Beijing, 2012, pl. 206; one, from the collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, is illustrated in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Harman, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 165; another is published in James C. Watt, Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1989, pl. 54; and a slightly smaller boat was sold in these rooms, 8th April 2010, lot 1873. Compare also a boat carved with a larger number of figures, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Jade, vol. 8, Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl. 125; another from the De An Tang Collection, included in the exhibition A Romance with Jade, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004 , pl. 59; and a third, sold in our London rooms, 30th October 1987, lot 342.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016