Finely carved rectangular plaque with a relief carving of an elephant on one side, an auspicious phrase on the other, the top and bottom borders with ruyi-formed clouds. The jade of an even white tone throughout with very minor white blemishes.

Initially based in Harbin in northeastern China during the first half of the 20th Century, the Gurevich family moved to Canada during the 1950s and opened the Gurie Gallery, a staple of Montreal’s trendy Sherbrooke street. The Gurie Gallery was one of the first to focus on Chinese ceramics, decorative arts and paintings, and was extremely popular to collectors in Montreal, Toronto and New York. The son, Alex Gurevich (1929-1990), took over the store during the 1960s and continued to source objects through frequent visits to Hong Kong.