A green and russet jade 'Mandarin ducks and lotus' group, together with three jade birds


The first, skilfully worked in the form of a Mandarin duck with its young, detailed with incised plumage and rendered grasping in their beaks a long leafy lotus stream, the pale green stone with russet inclusions, Jin/ Yuan dynasty, 6.4cm (2 1/2in) wide; the second, carved as a recumbent goose with wings tucked behind, its head turned backwards as if resting, the greenish stone with yellow russet inclusions, Song/ Yuan dynasty, 4cm (1 5/8in) wide; the third, carved with the crested head facing ahead, the white stone with russet skins, Song dynasty, 6cm (2 3/8in) wide; the fourth, carved with its head looking backwards, the wings held close and tail outstretched, the smoothly polished stone of yellow tone with black inclusions, Song dynasty, 5cm (2in) wide. (4).
|金/元 青玉雕鴛鴦荷塘宋/元 青玉雕鵝宋 白玉雕仿古鳳宋 雞骨白玉雕鳳Provenance:Durwin Tang Collection, prior to 2010來源:鄧德雍收藏，早於2010年Compare the Mandarin ducks and lotus group to a related green jade phoenix finial, Song or Yuan dynasty, in the similar execution of the deftly incised plumage, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 5 Tang, Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, Beijing, 2011, p.201, no.235.For a related example to the mythical jade bird, see a mottled greyish green and russet jade phoenix, Song dynasty, illustrated by J.C.Y.Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p.96, pl.80.北京故宮藏一件宋或元代之青玉鳳紋杖首，刀法和本組拍品之玉雕鳳可作比對，見《故宮博物院藏品大系：玉器篇》，卷五，北京，2011年，頁201，編號235。另有一件宋青灰沁色玉雕鳳可與本組之仿古鳳作比較，見屈志仁著，《Chinese Jades from the Han to the Ch'ing》，紐約，1980年，頁96，圖版80。