A CHINESE WHITE JADE 'LOTUS' CARVING

18TH CENTURY

Carved in openwork as two lotus blooms and large furling leaves growing around a thick curved lotus rhizome, with ribbon tying the stems and root together at the ends, the pale stone with some minor white inclusions, together with a reticulated wood stand worked with further lotus flowers and leaves, 8.2cm. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Brigadier Gordon Richardson, DSO, OBE (1910-1998) and thence by descent. Richardson joined the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles in India in 1931 before working as an instructor at Sandhurst between 1938 and 1940. Richardson was awarded an immediate DSO in 1944 when commanding the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles during the Italian campaign at Monte Cassino. He then received a bar to this DSO later in the same year. Afterwards, Richardson served in Greece, India, Singapore, Malaya and Hong Kong. He retired from the British Army in 1964 and then spent nine years in Nepal working for the Overseas Aid Development Corporation.

The image of lotus blossom together with lotus rhizome conveys the wish for a happy marriage, as the Chinese word for 'rhizome', ou, is homophonous with that for 'spouse'.