$6,930
Estimate: $1,500 - $2,000
Auction: April 8, 2021 11:00:00 AM EDT
The jadeite meiren swinging a lotus shaped basket along with carved openwork flowers, the wood stand elaborately carved with prunus and bamboo; the celadon jade meiren holding a lingzhi ruyi scepter, mounted on a carved wood and a gilt metal pedestal base; the inkwell with a hinged gilt metal cover incised with floral design, mounted to the gilt openwork vine and foliage carved base (3).
H: 7 3/4 in. (tallest)Provenance: Property formerly in the Collection of Eldridge Reeves Fenimore Johnson (1899-1986)
Thence by descent in the family.
NOTE: E. R. F. Johnson was a noted explorer, yachtsman and researcher. He was a pioneer in the development of underwater photography and had close ties with the University of Pennsylvania, where a collection of his photographs are preserved. His father was Eldridge Reeves Johnson (1867-1945), the founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company, later RCA. It is very possible these may have been originally acquired by the elder E. R. Johnson, given that he gave Chinese works of art to the University of Pennsylvania Museum in 1920 and 1927, including the large crystal ball said to have belonged to the Dowager Empress Cixi, the pair of carved stone reliefs of the favorite horses of the Tang Emperor Taizong, and numerous jade and coral carvings.