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Lot Essay
The elephant is an auspicious symbol which is used in numerous rebuses to convey peace, prosperity and good fortune. The present carving represents a popular elephant rebus: boys riding and washing an elephant (jixiang), representing good fortune.
With its auspicious theme, images of boys washing an elephant found favor in the Qing court, and were depicted by court painters such as Ding Guanpeng (fl. c. 1738-1768): see a hanging scroll in ink and color, depicting attendants washing an elephant, dated 1750 and with the artist’s signature, two seals of the artist and one seal of the Emperor Qianlong, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, no. GU4794.
The depiction of boys washing an elephant was also a particularly popular subject matter for jade carvings, giving a lively context to a sophisticated play on words. A related carving of two boys washing an elephant, also of white jade and of a similarly large size (20.4 cm. high) as the present example, in the Qing Court Collection, is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, and is illustrated in Jadeware (III). The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, p.117, pl. 98. The Beijing carving was also included in an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, and illustrated in China. The Three Emperors 1662-1795, London, 2005, p. 377, no. 300. Another example of a white jade carving of figures with an elephant, also in the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated ibid., pl. 97. This carving shows a boy with a ruyi scepter clambering on the back of the elephant, while a man wearing a hat stands at the proper left hind leg.
The elephant is also associated with Buddhism, and the Buddhist deity Samantabhadra is shown riding an elephant. The white elephant in particular recalls the birth legend of the historical Buddha, Siddartha Gautama: his mother Queen Maya did not have children for twenty years, but one night the queen had a vivid dream in which a white elephant appeared to her, and she later gave birth to Siddartha Gautama. In the present carving, the use of such high-quality white stone to depict an elephant may be a specific reference to this Buddhist legend. The Qianlong Emperor was a strong supporter of Buddhism, and his mother the Dowager Empress Chongqing was a particularly devout Buddhist.
With its auspicious theme, images of boys washing an elephant found favor in the Qing court, and were depicted by court painters such as Ding Guanpeng (fl. c. 1738-1768): see a hanging scroll in ink and color, depicting attendants washing an elephant, dated 1750 and with the artist’s signature, two seals of the artist and one seal of the Emperor Qianlong, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, no. GU4794.
The depiction of boys washing an elephant was also a particularly popular subject matter for jade carvings, giving a lively context to a sophisticated play on words. A related carving of two boys washing an elephant, also of white jade and of a similarly large size (20.4 cm. high) as the present example, in the Qing Court Collection, is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, and is illustrated in Jadeware (III). The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, p.117, pl. 98. The Beijing carving was also included in an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, and illustrated in China. The Three Emperors 1662-1795, London, 2005, p. 377, no. 300. Another example of a white jade carving of figures with an elephant, also in the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated ibid., pl. 97. This carving shows a boy with a ruyi scepter clambering on the back of the elephant, while a man wearing a hat stands at the proper left hind leg.
The elephant is also associated with Buddhism, and the Buddhist deity Samantabhadra is shown riding an elephant. The white elephant in particular recalls the birth legend of the historical Buddha, Siddartha Gautama: his mother Queen Maya did not have children for twenty years, but one night the queen had a vivid dream in which a white elephant appeared to her, and she later gave birth to Siddartha Gautama. In the present carving, the use of such high-quality white stone to depict an elephant may be a specific reference to this Buddhist legend. The Qianlong Emperor was a strong supporter of Buddhism, and his mother the Dowager Empress Chongqing was a particularly devout Buddhist.