Lot 3235. A white jade tripod censer and cover, Qing dynasty, 18th century; 19 cm., 7 1/2 in. Estimate 2,500,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 5,420,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the lustrous stone of an even creamy white tone, superbly carved with a compressed globular body supported on three short lion-head feet, rising to a waisted neck below a lipped mouth, flanked by a pair of reticulated dragon-head handles suspending rings, the ferocious dragons detailed with striated mane and deer antlers, the fitted cover surmounted with a knop in openwork, meticulously carved with three Buddhist lions surrounding a brocade ball, the largest lion grasping a ribbon in its mouth and resting its paw on the ball.

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 13th March 1970, lot 114.

Note: This piece is impressive for the luminous even tone of the stone which has been skilfully finished to a lustrous polish. By restricting the intricate carving to the handles and finial, which have been intricately modelled in the round, the carver draws further attention to the quality jade.  

The three lions on the cover illustrate the pun taishe shaoshi, expressing the wish that one and one's descendants will achieve high rank. Further examples of closely related form but carved with two lions on the cover include two sold in our New York rooms, 18th March 2008, lot 32, and the other, 27-28th April 1967, lot 297; one sold in our London rooms, 18th November 1998, lot 926; and another, but with one Buddhist lion over the cover and two extra ringed lion mask handles, from the Su Lin An collection sold in these rooms, 31st October 1995, lot 331. Compare also a jadeite censer of this type from the Jingguantang collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd November 1996, lot 610.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 april 2011