A white jade carving of a recumbent boy holding a bird18th century
The white stone of fine purity carved as a playfully smiling boy reclining on his right side and holding a spray of lingzhi fungus in his right hand while cradling a fine long-tailed bird in the left, the flowing robe held with a sash tied in an elaborate bow at the waist. 8.5cm (3 3/8in) long.注脚十八世紀 白玉雕童子戲鳥

Provenance:
An English private collection
Bonhams London, 15 May 2014, lot 219

來源：
英國私人舊藏
倫敦邦瀚斯，2014年5月15日，拍品編號219

The boy is a symbol of the desire for sons to continue the family line, and the lingzhi fungus represents longevity. The bird is likely to be a magpie, xique 喜鵲, known as the bird of joy or happiness, xi 喜. The stone of the present lot is remarkably pure and luminous, and the soft curves of the carving further serve to illuminate the depth and intensity of the stone.

A smaller (5.7cm long) white jade recumbent boy, the stone of similar quality and the figure with similar rounded folds on the gown and cheerful smile but sheltering behind a lotus leaf, is illustrated by R.Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no.181, and was subsequently sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot 1570.

白玉質，質地白潤，圓雕童子臥像，童子頭梳總角，髮絲細密刻劃一絲不苟，身著短裳，褶皺自然，右手擎靈芝，左手抱喜鵲，開懷大笑，可人憐愛。

童子形象在中國古代美術中常寓意多子多孫，靈芝象徵長生不老，喜鵲則有報喜的傳說，明清玉雕常有以此為題。可參考一件白玉臥童子，玉質相似，神態若之，惟手執荷葉，見R.Kleiner著，《Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman》，香港，1996年，編號181，其後售於香港佳士得，2007年11月27，拍品編號1570。