Beschreibung:

A WHITE JADE 'HORSE AND MONKEY' GROUPQianlong The smooth pebble finely carved as a recumbent horse with its head turned towards the back, a monkey clambering over its side, the mane and hair finely incised, the rear legs twisted upward and the tail flicked to one side, the stone of even pale white tone, wood stand. 5.5cm (2 1/2in) long (2).Footnotes清乾隆 白玉馬上封侯把件 Provenance: Christie's London, 4 April 1979, lot 29 James Basil Wilson and Julia Wilson, and thence by descent In 1945, James Basil Wilson returned from The Second World War having served with the Gurkhas. He married Julia Burke in 1949 and they moved to London. James started working for Iron and Steel Exporters and later that year, he was offered the chance to set up an office Hong Kong, so they moved there and set up home. The business was successful, they loved Hong Kong and they lived the life of ex-patriates to the full. They swam, played golf, made friends and indulged their passion for fast cars, competing in amateur road races. Julia claimed to have won at the first Macau Grand Prix. As well as enjoying the pastimes of the culture they brought with them, they developed an enduring love for China, Chinese people, Chinese food and Chinese art. With a growing family, they returned to England in 1957. They brought with them the pieces they had bought in Hong Kong and James made many trips to Hong Kong and continued to build their collection throughout the following decades mainly from dealers in London. 來源：倫敦佳士得，1979年4月4日，拍品編號29 James Basil Wilson與Julia Wilson伉儷舊藏，並由後人保存迄今 James Basil Wilson二戰期間曾於廓爾喀軍團服役，1945年返回英國。 1949年與Julia Burke結婚，婚後搬至倫敦，並開始為Iron and Steel Exporters效力，同年被委任籌備香港辦事處，遂移居香港。事業發展蒸蒸日上的同時，Wilson伉儷也充分享受著外派人士的理想生活；游泳、打高爾夫、結交朋友，沉迷賽車運動甚至參加業餘車手街道賽，Julia聲稱曾完賽首屆澳門格蘭披治大賽車。在保留西方生活方式的同時，Wilson伉儷也對中國及其民眾、美食和藝術產生了長久的熱情。 1957年，隨著家庭的不斷壯大，Wilson一家回到英國，並帶回了其在香港購置的藝術品。此後，James多次前往香港，並在接下來的幾十年中持續造訪倫敦的古董商，擴充藏品。 The monkey (hou 猴), is a homophone for 'marquis' (hou 侯), which on top of a horse (mashang 馬上), also meaning 'quickly', is a rebus for 'quick ennoblement' or rising quickly up the ladder of success in one's career. See a related jade horse and monkey group, Qianlong, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware, vol.3, Shanghai, 2008, no.91. Compare also with a related pale green jade carving of a horse and monkey, 18th century, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 19 March 2019, lot 201.