18th/19th century Finely carved as a vessel in the shape of a large lotus leaf incised with dainty veins elegantly spreading up to the curved foliate rim, the vessel borne on leafy winding stems bearing a lotus bloom, a smaller leaf curling alongside the rim and a frog sitting curiously on the side, the softly polished stone of even pale green tone, stand. 15cm (5 7/8in) wide. (2).Footnotes十八/十九世紀 青白玉「荷上鳴蛙」洗 Provenance: An English private collection Bonhams London, 6 November 2014, lot 310 A distinguished Asian private collection 來源: 英國私人舊藏 倫敦邦瀚斯，2014年11月6日，拍品編號310 亞洲顯赫私人收藏 The present lot would have graced the desk of an educated literatus, reminding the owner of the lotus's famed ability to remain 'unstained by the muddy surrounding'. Scholar-officials who refused to compromise their integrity liked to compare themselves with the purity of the lotus, a symbolism further imbued with its Buddhist religious significance and association. The swallow, carved on one side of the washer, symbolises the heralding of good fortune to come and a prosperous change for the better. Compare a pale green jade lotus leaf washer, of similar form and inspiration, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 10: Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, no.195. See also a related pale green jade lotus washer, 18th century, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by M.Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, pl.56; 參看北京故宮博物院藏一件清青玉荷葉水族洗，其造型及設計和本拍品類似，見《故宮博物院藏品大系：玉器編10》，北京，2011年，編號195。倫敦維多利亞阿爾伯博物館藏一件十八世紀青玉荷葉洗可資比較，見M.Wilson，《Chinese Jades》，倫敦，2004年，圖版56