A pale green and russet jade carving of elephant and boys


17th century The large beast exquisitely carved with wrinkly skin standing foursquare with the head turned sharply to its right, with lotus-leaf-like ears and a long curling trunk, a small boy with jovial expression clambering on its back grasping a broom, a second boy holding an ankus beside the elephant's hind leg, the stone of greenish-white tone with a slight purple streak and minor russet inclusions. 7cm (2 6/8in) long.
|十七世紀 青白玉帶皮童子洗象Provenance: Roger Keverne Ltd., London, 2011Lowenthal Collection, no.75來源：2011年購於倫敦Roger Keverne Ltd.Lowenthal藏品，编號75Exhibited and Published: S.K. Fung and C.T. Yeung, Exquisite Jade Carving: Figures, Animals, Ornaments, Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery, 6 December 1995 - 6 February 1996, p.129, no.105The 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, the boy atop the elephant is holding a broom and is thus cleaning or washing the elephant, sao xiang (掃象). The message is contained in the pun based on the fact that the pronunciation of 'elephant' and 'image' is the same in Chinese (xiang 象) and illustrates the Buddhist concept of sweeping away the phenomena of the outside world, which are thought to be mere illusions. Because of their auspiciousness, jade carvings of elephants were popular at the Ming and Qing Courts. See two white jade carvings in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (II), Beijing, 2008, nos.137-138.THE LOWENTHAL COLLECTION OF JADESHans 'Jack' Lowenthal was born in Frankfurt, Germany but at the age of five was brought to Britain with the rest of his family by his father in 1933. Although he briefly returned to Germany in 1934-1937 he thereafter permanently settled London. His father Julius Lowenthal founded the Smokers' and other accessories' business in Germany in 1921 but when he invented the most original semi-automatic lighter in 1928 he named it Colibri. Colibri gift lighters, pens, watches wallets became internationally well-known under the Colibri brand. In 1953, Hans Lowenthal joined Colibri and was the Managing Director for over 25 years. Lowenthal enjoyed designing and creating new products and he holds several important patents. Among the most important of his inventions was incorporating the Piezo-electric concept into a lighter, thereby creating a lighter that never needed a flint or battery, as the ignition spark was created manually. In 1967, he named the Colibri version 'Molectric' (molecular electricity). He also supervised Colibri when commisioned to design and manufacture the 'Golden Gun' and various Colibri products for the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. Julius Lowenthal began collecting jades in the 1950s, and one of his first items included a jade axe (Lot 127). Jack inherited his father's interest in jade and stone carvings and continued to collect and regularly attended auctions. In the late 1960s and 1970s, Jack purchased jade carvings from several well-known dealers including Louis Joseph, Hugh Moss, Roger Keverne, Michael Gillingham, and Marchants. Jack was a particularly passionate collector of tactile jade carvings of animals.