OLIVE, THREE LEGGED TOAD :: The Crane Collection

Bottle ID: 452

OLIVE, THREE LEGGED TOAD

Date: 1780-1850

Height: 72 mm

Nephrite, pale olive green with some brown inclusions, well hollowed, carved in the form of a naturalistic crouching three-legged toad, it’s mouth opening fashioned to be used as the entrance for the spoon and stopper, the body of the toad with a large third leg curled upwards at its rear balancing the body.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 461
Crane Collection nos. 298, 375 and 470
Hidden Treasures of the Dragon - Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collections of Humphrey K. F. Hui, Margaret Polak and Christopher C. H. Sin, 1992, p. 101, no. 203.

Provenance:

Robert Hall
Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
Asian Art Studio
Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
Sotheby's, Hong Kong, October 28, 1992, lot 406
Sotheby's, Sussex, U.K., June 25, 1991, lot 298

Liu Hai’s legendary toad is well known in Chinese mythology; always in trouble and needing to be fished out of streams and ponds by his protector, Liu hai. These two characters appear a great deal in Qing art, whether on paintings, carvings and snuff bottles. It is an unusual to find the three-legged toad without his master.

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