Vase depicting the Eight Immortals, one of a pair (pair with B60J296)

This pair of vases, a tour de force of early 1900s carving, depicts the Eight Immortals—mortals who absorbed the Elixir of Life, became immortals, and are worshiped as gods of longevity. Long chains link the lids to a strut across the mouths of the two vases, and they are all carved from the same piece of light-green jade. Four stylized dragons decorate the neck of each vase. Floral decorations around the rim are cut in intaglio. The oval reserves on front and back of each vase show the Eight Immortals worked in low relief, while the decorations around the reserves are again cut beneath the surface. The Eight Immortals are shown four in each section. Seen as a pair, the immortals on each vase are mirror images of each other.

Cloud-borne, the Eight Immortals float across the sky. In front, the leader, Zhongli Chuan, waves his fan towards the heavens. Cao Guojiu beats his wooden clappers. Lu Dongbin carries the sword across his back and waves the fly whisk in his hand. Lan Caihe carries the flower basket.

On the reverse, the old man, Zhang Guolao, carries the bamboo fish drum with two beaters. Li Tieguai rests both hands on his iron crutch, and Han Xiangzi plays his flute. He Xiangu carries a lotus blossom and leaf. Her attribute changes through time, from a bamboo sieve in the Ming dynasty to a single lotus through the Qing dynasty. The addition of a lotus leaf indicates a later development of her iconography.