Description
Chalcedony; with a small countersunk base, carved in the form of a Chinese jujube with three peanuts on the side, Oficial School, 1780-1850.
The peanut agate was a popular subject because of its symbolism. The Peanut is evocative of the idea of child-birth and the jujube implies the early arrival of male off- spring, an ideal close to the heart of the male-donminated Chinese society (see Treasury 2, no. 329). A jade snuff bottle decorated with peanuts and inscribed with a mark signifying that it was for the personal use of the Qianlong Emperor, links this closely with the court (Robert Hall,Chinese Snuff Bottles 7, no. 8).
