A pale green jade 'deer' group


Late Ming/early Qing dynastyFinely carved in openwork with a recumbent deer and his fawn facing each other, each portrayed with well-defined features of almond-shaped eyes and long hollowed ears flanking its lingzhi-shaped antlers, the muscular body accentuated with a protruding curved spine and rounded haunches, grasping a long lingzhi branch in its mouth, the hooves and legs neatly tucked beneath, the stone of a pale celadon tone, wood stand. 13.6cm (5 3/8in) long. (2).
|明末清初 青白玉雕雙鹿銜芝擺件Provenance: A French private collection, Lyon, acquired circa 1930-1950, and thence by descentMarchant, LondonExhibited, Published and Illustrated:Marchant, 90th Anniversary Exhibition: Ninety Jades for 90 Years, London, 2015, no.50來源：法國私人舊藏，購於約1930年至1950年間，並由後人保存迄今倫敦Marchant展覽、出版及著錄：Marchant，《玉器九十，90週年特展》，倫敦，2015年，編號50Compare with a green jade deer, Ming dynasty, also grasping a lingzhi in its mouth, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Jade 6, Ming Dynasty, Beijing, no.243; and another green jade deer and fawn, Ming dynasty, grasping flowers instead, is illustrated ibid., no.244; a further example, early Ming dynasty, holding a lingzhi branch, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum, Jadeware (II), Hong KOng, 1995, no.210.The deer is said to be the only animal capable of finding the sacred lingzhi fungus of immortality. The word for deer, lu, forms a homonym for the salary of a Chinese official, lu, hence a pun on the word wealth. The deer and fawn form the rebus lulu liantong or 'may all the roads be smooth'.青白玉質，淡青泛白，圓雕母子臥鹿，鹿角盤絞呈肉芝狀，又稱「珍珠盤」，有宋金遺風，雙耳後伏，母鹿口銜芝草，幼鹿亦口銜芝草一葉，芝草淺刻經脈，尾部亦淺刻絨毛，四肢踡伏，蹄掌內挖，精細生動。鹿銜芝的題材明代以來寓意長生不老，故而運用頗廣。可比較北京故宮所藏兩件明代青玉銜靈芝鹿擺件，題材玉質皆與類同，見《故宮博物院藏品大系玉器篇6》，北京，2011年，頁242及243，編號243及244。另見北京故宮博物院藏一件明早期玉銜靈芝臥鹿，或為書鎮或陳設，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：玉器（中）》，香港，1995年，編號210。