A CHINESE AGATE 'PHOENIX AND PEONY' CARVING

18TH CENTURY

The mythical bird depicted standing on rockwork, it turns its head back grasping long leafy branches of peony blooms, with finely incised details to the phoenix's feathers, with greyish-lilac and rich amber-coloured sections in the stone, 11cm.

Cf. Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Jade, vol.9, pp.152-153, no.141 for a comparable celadon jade carving of a phoenix holding a fruiting branch in its mouth; see also Roger Keverne, Summer Exhibition 2008, p.114, no.95 for another similar carving in jade.