118. A fine and rare Chinese white jade carving Qianlong 1736-95, exquisitely carved in the shape of a persimmon issuing from a gnarled leafy branch from which lingzhi are growing, the stone with a few pale russet inclusions to one side, 6.2cm. £60,000-70,000
Provenance: formerly an English private collection. Cf. Fung and Yeung, Exquisite Jade Carving, p.228 for a lotus group with very similar relief workmanship of lingzhi. Persimmons (shi) and fungus (lingzhi) used together form a rebus meaning ‘may everything be as you wish’. 清乾隆 白玉雕福壽如意把件