A JADE CARVING OF TWO BIRDS QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

carved in the form of two long-tailed birds turning to face each other, their tails entwined in a tender embrace and finely incised with neat feathers, the beaks grasping a gnarled branch of flowering prunus, the stone of a white tone with attractive peach-orange and vermillion-red inclusions

Dunt King, Hong Kong, 1962.
Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1963 (£7:10).
Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1963 (£15).

This charming piece is notable for the intricately carved details, as seen in the skilfully executed feathers of the two birds. The dexterity of the craftsman with the medium is further evidenced in the use of the natural russet inclusions of the stone to enhance the birds’ heads, and suggests that the carver has modelled this piece according to the shape of the pebble to ensure minimal wastage of the precious stone.

A similar carving of entwined birds, but grasping a millet stem in their mouth, from the collection of Mr and Mrs Philip Chu, was included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 181; two carvings were sold in our London rooms, the first, 12th March 1982, lot 46, and the second, 7th June 1994, lot 126; and a third was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 5th/6th November 1997, lot 999.

This piece probably depicts a pair of magpies, birds associated with joy and happiness as they chirp joyfully to announce the arrival of spring.  When two magpies are depicted with plum blossoms they grant the wish for a happy marriage.