A pale green and russet 'boys washing the elephant' group


Qianlong Crisply carved as a wrinkled elephant standing four-square in a whirling pool of water with finely-incised eddy currents, its long trunk playing with the water, two boys with brushes sweeping the elephant, the stone with russet patches, wood stand. 7.5cm (3in) long. (2).
|清乾隆 青白玉帶皮童子掃象擺件Provenance: a distinguished English private collection來源：英國顯貴私人收藏The subject matter of boys tending to an elephant forms many multiple layers of meaning and auspiciousness. The phrase 'ride an elephant' (qi xiang 騎象), has a similar pronunciation as ji xiang (吉祥), meaning good fortune. Furthermore, boys cleaning or 'washing the elephant' (sao xiang 掃象), forms a rebus for 'sweeping away the phenomena of the outside world', which are thought to be mere illusions. The pun is based on the fact that the pronunciation of 'elephant' and 'image' is the same in Chinese (xiang 象). Compare with a related carving of an elephant being groomed by two boys, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade, Beijing, 2011, no.136.See also a related white jade carving of an elephant and boys, 18th century, which was sold at Sotheby's London, 10 May 2017, lot 4.