A CHINESE WHITE JADE 'DOUBLE BADGERS' PENDANT

18TH/19TH CENTURY

Carved with two feline-like badgers, the animals recline together gazing back at each other, with finely incised hair to the ends of their curled tails, the pale stone of an even tone with some small russet markings, 5.3cm.

Provenance: an English private collection, purchased in Hong Kong in the 1960s.

Cf. Marchant, Ninety Jades for 90 Years, p.79, no.40 for a similar pendant; see also T Y Pang & J Sze, Virtuous Treasures: Chinese Jades for the Scholar's Table, p.179, no.103 for another example.

The Chinese word for 'badger', huan, is homophonous with that for 'joy'. The image of two badgers, shuanghuan, is therefore symbolic of a couple enjoying marital bliss.