TWO-DAY AUCTION - Fine Chinese Art / 中 國藝術集珍 / Buddhism & Hinduism (CA0321) Fri, 5th Mar 2021 Lot 90
Starting price: €500 Estimate: €1000 A BEIGE JADE ‘BAT AND COIN’ CARVING, QING DYNASTY 清代玉蝙蝠五銖幣 China, 18th century. Masterfully carved as a bat resting with its wings spread out over a Wu Zhu cash coin. The semitranslucent stone of an even, pale beige color with cloudy white and russet inclusions as well as scattered grayish black patches. Note the finely incised detail work.
Provenance: From a notable English private collector of Chinese jades. Condition: Good condition, one small chip and few minuscule nibbles to edges, the stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into small hairline cracks over time.
Weight: 20.9 g Dimensions: Width 4.2 cm
Wu Zhu is a type of Chinese cash coin produced from the Han dynasty in 118 BC when they replaced the earlier San Zhu coins, until they themselves were replaced by the Kaiyuan Tongbao coins of the Tang dynasty in 621 AD. The name Wu Zhu literally means ‘five zhu’, which is a measuring unit officially weighing about 4 grams. In reality however, the weights and sizes of Wu Zhu cash coins varied significantly over the years. During the Han dynasty a large quantity of Wu Zhu coins were cast, but their production continued under subsequent dynasties until the Sui. Minting definitively ended in 618 with the establishment of the Tang dynasty. Wu Zhu coins were cast from 118 BC to 618 AD, having a span of 736 years, the longest for any coin in the history of the world.
Auction result comparison: Compare with a celadon and russet jade carving of a bat and coin, dated to the 19th century, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in Chinese Art on 2-3 June 2016, lot 928, sold for HKD 500,000.
清代玉蝙蝠五銖幣 中國，十八世紀。巧妙地雕刻成蝙蝠，翅膀抱著五株幣。 半透明 玉石，顔色均勻，淺米色，白色和紅褐色絮狀内含物，以及散佈 的灰黑色斑點。 細節雕刻精美。
來源：英國知名中國玉器私人收藏 品相：狀況良好，一小塊碎屑，邊緣有細小磕損，玉石有天然裂 紋，隨著時間的流逝，其中一些已經發展成細小的裂縫。
重量：20.9 克 尺寸：款4.2 厘米 拍賣結果比較：一件青玉帶皮玉雕蝙蝠錢幣，十九世紀，見香港 蘇富比Chinese Art 拍場2016年6月2-3日 lot 928, 售價HKD 500,000.