A white and russet jade 'deer and lotus' group


18th centuryFinely carved with a recumbent deer and his fawn resting on a furled lotus leaf with its veins delicately rendered in low relief, the deer depicted with long antlers flanked by well-incised ears, looking backward and grasping a leafy lingzhi branch in its mouth, their bodies delicately incised with star-shaped spots, the polished white stone with russet markings. 8.5cm (3 1/3in) wide.
|十八世紀 白玉帶皮雕雙鹿銜芝擺件Provenance:Diana Klein, Vermont, USAO.J.R.Allen collection, purchased from S. Marchant & Son, London, on 2 October 2000Marchant, LondonExhibited, Published and Illustrated:S. Marchant & Son, 75th Anniversary Exhibition of Post-Archaic Chinese Jades from Private Collections, London, 2000, no.85 Marchant, Chinese Jades from the Mr. O.J.R. Allen Collection, London, 2013, no.17來源：美國佛蒙特州Diana Klein舊藏O.J.R.Allen舊藏，2000年10月2日購於倫敦S. Marchant & Son倫敦Marchant展覽、出版及著錄：S. Marchant & Son，《75th Anniversary Exhibition of Post-Archaic Chinese Jades from Private Collections》，倫敦，2000年，編號85Marchant，《Chinese Jades from the Mr. O.J.R. Allen Collection》，倫敦，2013年，編號17Compare with a jade carving of a deer and fawn holding a lingzhi branch, 17th/18th century, illustrated in The Collection of Jade in the Tianjin City Art Museum, 1993，no.214.白玉質，略微閃灰，玉料扁圓，隨形雕一母鹿臥於荷葉之上，淺浮雕荷葉背面經脈，葉唇翻轉，母鹿雙角後伏，口銜芝草， 眉目安詳，母鹿一側雕一幼鹿，呦呦昂首，盡顯舐犢情深，鹿身皆淺刻交叉六角紋飾，仿以梅花鹿斑點，荷葉一側略染黃皮。雙鹿銜芝的題材明清十分常見，而臥於荷葉之上卻為本品創意之鋪排。雙鹿通「雙祿」，梅花鹿古來又有長壽的寓意。參看天津市藝術博物館藏類似一例，見《天津市藝術博物館藏玉》，1993年，編號214。