A CHINESE PALE CELADON JADE 'MAGNOLIA' BRUSH WASHER.

Qing Dynasty.

Carved as a large blossom with seven petals creating a basin, with a small spider and a beetle below the rim picked out in a darker stone, the base formed as a petal, the stone of even celadon colour with minor brown inclusions and white veins, together with a box, 20cm long.

Provenance: from a French diplomatic collection.

清 青玉雕白玉蘭形筆洗

來源：法國外交官收藏。

In China the spider is considered lucky. The word for spider, zhi zhu, is sometimes affectionately nicknamed xi zi or xi zhu, meaning the ‘lucky one’ or ‘lucky spider’. The term xi cong tian jiang, meaning ‘a spider descending from the sky’ is a rebus meaning 'pleasant surprise descending on you'. One might well imagine the delight of a Chinese scholar turning over this vessel to reveal the eight-legged creature carved into its surface.

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