Olivia Xu
Associate Specialist
Lot 130*
A WHITE JADE 'BOYS' BRUSHWASHER AND A COVER 18th century
3 November 2022, 12:30 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £9,562.50 inc. premium
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Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
A WHITE JADE 'BOYS' BRUSHWASHER AND A COVER
18th century
Finely modelled with deep rounded sides rising from a circular ring foot, the handles formed from four boys fashioned in the round, each vividly portrayed in a different posture and holding a different implement including a pomegranate, a sheng, and a flower, all dressed in short jackets and trousers, their faces with a cheerful expression and the hair gathered into a topknot, the cover finely carved with a sinuous chilong, the well-polished stone of translucent pale green colour with faint grey and cloudy inclusions. 10.5cm (4 1/8in) wide. (2).
Finely modelled with deep rounded sides rising from a circular ring foot, the handles formed from four boys fashioned in the round, each vividly portrayed in a different posture and holding a different implement including a pomegranate, a sheng, and a flower, all dressed in short jackets and trousers, their faces with a cheerful expression and the hair gathered into a topknot, the cover finely carved with a sinuous chilong, the well-polished stone of translucent pale green colour with faint grey and cloudy inclusions. 10.5cm (4 1/8in) wide. (2).
Footnotes
十八世紀 白玉童子耳洗連蓋
Provenance: Sir Michael Oppenheimer (3rd Baronet, 1924-2020) and Lady Helen Oppenheimer DD (1926-2022), and thence by descent
來源：Michael Oppenheimer 爵士（三代從男爵，1924-2020年）與Helen Oppenheimer爵士夫人（1926-2022年）舊藏，並由後人保存迄今
The collection belonged to Sir Michael and Lady Oppenheimer DD (3rd Baronet, 1924-2020). Sir Michael's maternal grandparents were Sir Robert Grenville Harvey, 2nd Baronet (1856-1931) and Lady Emily Blanche Harvey (1872-1935) of Langley Park, Buckinghamshire. The Chinese art collection can be, at least in part, traced back to Langley Park, Buckinghamshire, home to the Harvey Baronets from 1788 until 1945, as demonstrated in a pre-1945 photograph showing Lot 122, the cloisonné enamel tripod 'elephant' incense burner, Qianlong.
Sir Michael Oppenheimer's paternal family was the well-known South African mining family. The baronetcy was created in 1921 for Bernard Oppenheimer, Chairman of the South African Diamond Corporation for setting up diamond sorting factories to employ wounded ex-servicemen after the First World War. The family has been involved with De Beers over many decades. Lady Oppenheimer DD (1926-2022) was a distinguished moral and philosophical theologian, with a particular interest in the ethics pertaining to personal relationships.
The present vessel, surrounded by small figures of boys, is closely related to the bowls and cups made with similar composition of boys clinging to the rims of the vessel, usually forming the handles; see a green jade cup flanked by children playing games, Qing dynasty, illustrated in Compendiums of Collections in the Palace Museum. Jade, vol.10, Beijing, 2011, no.152, and a white jade washer with handles shaped as children, Qing dynasty, Ibid., no.199. The combination of children decorating vessels appears to have been popular from at least the Song dynasty; for a Song dynasty example, see a green jade cup flanked by 'boys' handles, in Ibid., no.56.
Compare with a related green jade waterpot surrounded by children, Qianlong, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1376; and a white jade 'boys' incense burner, Qianlong, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3 October 2017, lot 3604.
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