Description
A fine rare Chinese white jade carving of a bat, crisply carved with its wings wrapped around a large coin, decorated with a central flyfot or swasticka, 18th/19th century, raised on a hardwood stand, 5.5cm. (2)
Provenance: The collection of William Drummond of Fife, Scotland. (1893 - 1980).
Bats (fu) and coins (quian) in Chinese art represent blessings before your eyes, cf. Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, 1.1.11. and the swastika (wan) together with the bat mean: may you have ten thousand blessings (wanfu), as 'bat' is a pun for blessings, and the word for swasticka and ten thousand, are both pronounced 'wan'.
See also Knapton Rasti, The Property of Mr Philip Cardeiro, no. 119 for another 18th century white jade carving of a bat.
