A FINE WHITE JADE CARVING OF A DEER QING DYNASTY, 17TH / 18TH CENTURY

finely carved as a recumbent deer with its hooves tucked under its body, its head turned sharply over the backside, grasping a leafy sprig of lingzhi fungus in its mouth, the facial features, flared nostrils, pointed ears and flattened antlers very well defined, the pure white stone with some russet inclusions   

In China, the association of deer with immortality and miraculous characteristics can be traced back to as early as the Han dynasty.  A reference to a white deer holding a spray of fungus in its mouth is illustrated in a Han poem:

"The fairy riding a white deer
Has short hair and ears so long.
As he leads me up Great Mount Hua
He grasps the mushroom, seizes red-fringe fungus.
When we reach the Master's gates
He offers up the drug in a jade casket.
The Master eats the drug,
His body in a day grows strong and fit,
His white hair turns black again,
His lifespan lengthens, his years are increased."
(Anne Birrell, Popular Songs and Ballads of Han China, London, 1988, p. 68)

A similar piece is illustrated in James Watt, Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1989, cat.no. 56, where it is discussed that these types of deer known as "meihua lu" or  "prunus blossom deer"  because of the white markings on the body resembling blossoms, are given a Qing Dynasty date because of the technical sophistication of the carving.  Also compare also one sold in these rooms, 25th November 1987, lot 436.