A greenish-white jade carving of a woman and child

Qing dynasty, 18th to 19th century
Length: 2 ¾ in (6.9 cm)

A nude woman holding a fan in one hand and resting her head on the other hand, is interrupted in her rest by a child climbing over her. The use of a leaf as a resting platform goes back centuries, and there is an image of a youth sleeping on the leaf of a water plant dated to the Song dynasty in Elizabeth Childs-Johnson Lustrous, Enduring and Translucent Jades from Traditional China (Weisbrod Chinese Art Ltd: 1999), cat. no. 92; but perhaps more pertinent is the small jade dated late Ming to early Qing, of a courtesan resting on a leaf in the Guan-fu collection and illustrated in James C. Y. Watt, Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum (Seattle: 1989), p.125.

Published: Asiantiques, Chinese Works of Art (2009), cat. no. 15

Ref. 858262

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