Small carving made of white jade. It depicts a boy with a lotus across his shoulder which symbolizes the wish for many sons (boy) and Continuous Harmony (lotus). The figure was most probably a wedding gift to the bride. The figure dates from the Qing period (1644 - 1912) and was acquired from the China Arts and Crafts store in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, in 1990. In the early part of the 1990’s the Chinese Arts and Crafts stores would offer hundreds of small old jades for sale which were piled up on flat trays. All of them had the well known red lacquer seal which showed that they were antiques that had been cleared for export from China. It is hard to describe the pleasure it gave to dig through the heaps trying to find the nicest pieces. Of course we would never be alone. Sometimes there would be a scramble with local collectors who were also looking for hidden treasures. Height 2.8 cm. Width 1.9 cm. Depth 1.8 cm. Weight 15.8 grams.