Page 66 - CHRISTIE'S Marchant Nine Decades of Chinese Art 09/14/17
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MARCHANT: NINE DECADES IN CHINESE ART
724 A PALE GREYISH-GREEN JADE PROVENANCE
QUADRILOBED STEM CUP
Important private collection, France.
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
The form of the present cup is based on metal vessels, in
The cup is carved with four lobes and is raised on an eight- particular the lobed silver and gilt cups from the Tang
lobed, high spreading foot carved with a twisted rope band dynasty which were inspired by Near Eastern designs.
around the middle. The wider sides of the cup are carved with See, for example, three cups formerly in the Carl Kempe
a shou (longevity) character above a fower and rocks, and the Collection, illustrated by B. Gyllensvard, Chinese Gold &
narrower sides are carved with the character qing (celebration) Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953,
on one, and with xi (happiness) on the other, both above lotus pp. 166-69, nos. 108 and 109 (gilt-bronze cups with ribbed
fowers and a pair of ducks above rocks and waves. The stone stems) and no. 110 (a silver cup with lobed sides and foot).
is of a greyish-green color with some mottling.
2√ in. (7.3 cm.) high Stem cups carved from jade are rare, not least since the form,
$15,000-20,000 which is well-suited to the craft of repoussé metal working,
presents a much greater challenge to the jade carver. It also
(detail) necessitates a high degree of wastage of the precious jade
64 to hollow both the bowl and the stem. A few examples of
plain-sided, circular cups are known, but more elaborate
lobed examples are even rarer.
One very similar stem cup, also dated to the Ming dynasty,
is illustrated by Yun Xi Zheng, The Collection of Jades in the
Tianjin City Art Museum, p. 236, no. 189-190. A related
example carved with lotus petals on the exterior of the cup
is illustrated by Marchant, Chinese Jades from Tang to Qing,
2010, no. 119, pp. 162-63.
明 青白玉雕花鳥紋海棠式高足盃
