TWO CHINESE WHITE JADE CARVINGS

18TH/19TH CENTURY

One carved as a crested Mandarin duck grasping a leafy sprig in its beak, its wings detailed with archaistic motifs, together with a wood stand, the other carving formed as two persimmon fruits growing from a leafy branch, with a spray of lingzhi to the side of the larger fruit, 4.9cm and 5.3cm. (3)

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.