Boy carved from white jade who wishes the recipient to get many sons. He carries a vase (ping = peace) and has a lotus flower slung across his shoulder which symbolizes a wish for Continuous Harmony. Despite its diminutive size the carving is very sweet. A nice feature is that the carver used the skin of the stone to depict the soles of his shoes. 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 1993. 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 4.1 cm. Width 2.9 cm. Depth 1.5 cm. Weight 21.5 cm.