J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York

The theme of this plaque is the celebration of the Spring goose hunt, known as chun shui, a long tradition in China which flourished especially in the Liao dynasty, when the emperor presided over the ceremonial hunt and participating members of the court were required to wear official robes decorated with images of the hunt and other regalia appropriate to the occasion, including jade plaques. The geese were hunted by small trained falcons called haidongqing and Liao jade plaques usually include the small falcon in pursuit of the goose, but over time the subject of the goose in lotus became part of the standard repertory of the Chinese jade carver and details such as the haidongqing falcon no longer were required.

A very similar chun shui jade plaque is illustrated by Watt, Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1989, p. 65, no. 40, described as Yuan dynasty. Another very similar jade plaque of this type in the British Museum is illustrated by Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 335, fig. 1, described as Yuan or early Ming dynasty, 14th – 15th century.

A chun shui jade plaque of smaller size in the Aohanqi Museum, Inner Mongolia is illustrated by Gu (ed.), Zhongguo chuanshi yuqi quanji (Chinese Jades in Traditional Collections), Vol. 3, Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Beijing, 2010, p. 181, described as Yuan dynasty.