A SMALL CHINESE WHITE JADE 'MOUNTAIN' CARVING

QIANLONG 1736-95

Formed as a rocky cliff face, carved in relief to one side with a pair of deer, the stag gazing back at the doe, with small stars incised to the animals' bodies, the reverse with a twisting gnarled pine tree, with one branch extending over the top of the cliff, the stone with some minor pale and russet inclusions, together with a wood stand, 6cm. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Sir Archibald John Boyd (c.1889-1959) and Lady Boyd, and thence by descent. Sir Archibald was chairman of the Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company and of The Patent Shaft and Axletree Company. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Oxford, and then joined the steelworks of Cammell Laird and Co, Sheffield, as a pupil in 1912. In 1929, the company merged with Vickers Ltd forming the Metropolitation-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company, and Sir Archibald became its managing director five years later. During the Second World War, the company produced fighting vehicles and Sir Archibald was seconded to the Ministry of Supply as Director-General of Tank Production between October 1942 and December 1943. In 1950, Sir Archibald received his knighthood and he was appointed as the company's chairman in 1956.