Lot 3035. A Finely Carved Yellow Jade 'Prunus' Inkstick Rest, Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng Period (1723-1735); 7.5 cm., 3 in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,560,000 HKD (241,003 EUR). Photo Sotheby's

of rectangular form supported on two rounded feet, the translucent stone of a pale yellow tone deftly carved and pierced with openwork to simulate a section of prunus tree trunk, the creamy-russet skin cleverly modelled as a branch laden with blossoms and a small flowering narcissus, together with a dragonfly and a butterfly in flight.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25th April 2004, lot 73.

Note: This elegant inkstick rest is notable for its naturalistic design, whereby the narcissus and prunus branches carved on the beige skin cleverly contrast with the translucent tree trunk. Compare a plain yellow jade inkstick rest in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 174, and a plain white jade inkstick rest, from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Great National Treasures of China, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, 1994, cat. no. 52.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 april 2014