A CHINESE WHITE JADE CARVING OF TWO BADGERS QIANLONG 1736-95...

A CHINESE WHITE JADE CARVING OF TWO BADGERS QIANLONG 1736-95 One of the creatures depicted standing, the other crouching, they face each other grasping leafy sprigs of lingzhi in their mouths, with their ears lying flat against their heads, the hairs of their bushy tails finely incised, the stone with some minor pale inclusions, together with a wood stand, 6.3cm. (2) Provenance: from the collection of Sir Archibald John Boyd (c.1889-1959) and Lady Boyd, and thence by descent. Sir Archibald was chairman of the Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company and of The Patent Shaft and Axletree Company. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Oxford, and then joined the steelworks of Cammell Laird and Co, Sheffield, as a pupil in 1912. In 1929, the company merged with Vickers Ltd forming the Metropolitation-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company, and Sir Archibald became its managing director five years later. During the Second World War, the company produced fighting vehicles and Sir Archibald was seconded to the Ministry of Supply as Director-General of Tank Production between October 1942 and December 1943. In 1950, Sir Archibald received his knighthood and he was appointed as the company's chairman in 1956.