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Lot
Number
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J000005 |
| Lot
Title |
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Jade Carving of Boar |
| Date
of Origin |
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Song or Ming Dynasty |
| Country
of Origin |
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China |
| Material
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Jade |
| Measurements |
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10.4 x 2.65 cm |
| Lot
Quantity |
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2 |
| Estimate |
: |
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| Description:
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Description (guaranteed):
I found this piece at ShenZen Antique Market. You know right away it is an old piece at first sight. When holding it, it is very moistened and smooth, the shape and lines of the body are beautiful and elegant.
The lady managing the store gave me a very high price. I noticed from the business card that the owner is a Taiwaness, so I asked for a card and intented to call the boss when I got back to Taiwan. After getting back to Taiwan, I gave the owner a call right away, he gave me a better price, but still expensive. He invited me to visit his shop in Taiwan and check around his other collections. I figured that would be a good idea to negotiate the price face to face.
He said he usually does business with frequent customers, and the later the more customers come, sometimes even as late (or early) as till next morning, so he typically starts his business by 6PM. I was thinking he might be kidding me. Purposely, I picked one late Saturday night, around 9PM to his place. Woo! Really many people, and they seemed to know each other very well. I thought this wont be good for my price negotiation as the imposing manner was way down. I looked around and chatter for a while, found a chance, excused myslef, decided to work on price a later day.
Couple days later, I called the owner again. This time, for sure, on the other end of the phone, his friends were not there to suport him, and was much easier for me to talk about price, openly slashed the price, no need to worry about embarrassing. Finally, I got a price which I thought acceptable. He said he lost thousands by giving me that price, I did not believe it, and did not give a dime. I told him that I would go to SZ later, and by then, I would like to visit his shop again and ensure the boar is in good condition, he said no problem.
In SZ, I picked one night after dinner with several frinds then visited his place. About 10 PM, he was still in the shop, however, I got more people this time and of course imposing manner was much stronger. He took out several of his collections, all very nice and guaranteed to be antique. This gave me more confidence about my boar.
Once again I saw the boar, still so lovely, one side with sapphire green, and one side with redish black, so beautiful, the carving works were simple and powerful. Even though, it was not a Han Dynasty carving style Han Boar, but at least from Ming or Song Dynasty. The owner said people wont even doubt if some one said this piece was from North Southern Period, however, I believe it is better to be conservative.
I asked him to bring the boar and some other pieces I liked back to Taiwan. He gave me another stand and said he would make a box for me, not bad. He said he would be back before the election and I said I would visit him after the election. If the candidate we liked won the campaign, then I would buy more. After the election, of course, the result was what we both liked, no further argument, I bought another piece of Jade Carving Figure from Chinese 24 Filial Piety Stories.
Back and forth several times in between Taiwan and SZ, finally, I got this pretty jade boar into my treasurable collections. I got another boar to match my zodiac, so great. |
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| Condition
and Additional Specification: |
Condition: Some nature pitting to jade
豬是中國先民由漁獵生活進入農業生活的象徵，而人們必須有相當程度的定居生活，才利於農耕的發展；定居便是「家」的起源。「家」字是由代表房子的「」和代表豬的「豕」兩個符號合併而成的文字。漢代陶器常見養豬的房舍，人居上層，豬欄在下層和主室相連。
豬大概是中國人最早豢養的家畜。古時的中國人除了食用豬來補充自己的營養外，在以物換物的市場法則中，豬也成為貴重的交易物品，所以，豬在農業社會裡，不僅是財富的象徵，也是定居生活的保證。
陶豬常見於史前到宋元時的隨葬器中，商周時雖有玉豬但量甚少，漢以後才增多。最早發現的西漢玉豬，是樂浪石嚴里九號墓所出土的，樂浪是現在的北韓平壤，漢置為郡。陶豬雕刻出來的姿態比較生動，玉豬雕刻一般都比較簡單，只不過把一截橫條玉，以幾根簡單的線條琢出豬頭和腿足，使其有一點像豬而己。玉豬的基本造型，很適合掌握，漢人在喪葬禮中的「握」，便是握豬。財富本來是生不帶來死不帶去的，但「握」豬似乎意含死後可攜用的財產，而包上金箔的玉豬就更顯貴重了。
此外，中國人也相信玉為山川之精英，能保護屍體使之不朽，而玉豬眼象徵財富又保證長久，由此可知，玉豬在使用上深遠的意義。
玉豬如此簡單的雕刻，在當時也閉O為了方便，但從現代藝術或者中國傳統美學的觀點來看，這種似像非像的半抽象造形，在簡單中見生氣，更能表達精妙的人文內涵。 --楚戈 |
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