Juliette Hammer
Sale Coordinator
Lot 16
A RARE BAMBOO 'ELEPHANTS AND BOY' GROUP 18th century
14 May 2025, 10:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£6,000 - £8,000
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Chen Xie
Specialist
Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
Lazarus Halstead
Head of Chinese and Asian Art, London
A RARE BAMBOO 'ELEPHANTS AND BOY' GROUP
18th century
The large animal meticulously carved with whorling wrinkles, the large head with almond-shaped eyes and sharp tusks turned tenderly to its left to caress its young elephant with its trunk, the little elephant gazing upwards affectionately, a boy with jovial expression holding a vase with floral sprays clambers atop the larger elephant, the wood of warm amber tone.
16.3cm (6 1/2in) high.
The large animal meticulously carved with whorling wrinkles, the large head with almond-shaped eyes and sharp tusks turned tenderly to its left to caress its young elephant with its trunk, the little elephant gazing upwards affectionately, a boy with jovial expression holding a vase with floral sprays clambers atop the larger elephant, the wood of warm amber tone.
16.3cm (6 1/2in) high.
Footnotes
十八世紀 竹雕「萬像長青」擺件
Provenance: Acquired in London in the early 1980's (collector's notes)
來源： 1980年代早期獲得於倫敦（藏家筆記）
The depiction of a boy riding atop an elephant is rich with layers of meaning and auspicious symbolism. The phrase 'ride an elephant' (qi xiang 騎象) closely resembles the pronunciation of 'good fortune' (ji xiang 吉祥), creating a wordplay that conveys blessings and prosperity. Additionally, the combination of a 'vase' (ping 瓶), which puns with 'peace' (ping 平), and an 'elephant' (xiang 象), which also signifies a 'sign' or 'portent', forms a rebus for the phrase 'taiping youxiang' (太平有象). This phrase can be interpreted as 'Where there is peace, there is an omen (or elephant!)', intertwining notions of harmony, prosperity, and good fortune.
Interestingly, the treatment of the elephant's wrinkles resembling a whorl or fingerprint is similar to that of elephants depicted in porcelain. See for example, a blue and white brushpot with a scene of washing an elephant, mid 17th century, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.2008.80).
See a comparable carved bamboo elephant surmounted with a figure of a foreigner, previously in the Brian McElney collection, early 18th century, in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, exhibited and illustrated in Auspicious Emblems: Chinese Cultural Treasures. 45th Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong, 2005, p.283, no.183.
See a related bamboo 'elephant and foreigners' group, 17th/18th century, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 24 November 2013, lot 352.