Page 93 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

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PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION 清乾隆 黃玉仿古雙龍耳蓋瓶
A YELLOW JADE ARCHAISTIC VASE AND
COVER 來源
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD 李清華 (1901-1980) 收藏
Weisbrod & Dy Ltd.，紐約，1981年11月14日
wood stand (3)
Height 8½ in., 21.5 cm 出版
Arthur and Grace Chu，《The Collector’s Book of Jade》
PROVENANCE
，紐約，1978年，圖版8
Collection of Chingwah Lee (1901-1980).
Weisbrod & Dy Ltd., New York, 14th November 1981.
LITERATURE
Arthur and Grace Chu, The Collector’s Book of Jade, New
York, 1978, pl. 8.
This elegant and rare vase is notable for its archaistic form
and the use of the highly esteemed yellow jade material.
Exquisitely worked after the archaic bronze, the present
piece reflects the craftsman’s skill and embodies the Qing
imperial taste for antiquity.
Starting from the Ming dynasty, yellow jade has been highly
regarded by scholars and connoisseurs. According to
Yanxian Qingshang [Refined Enjoyment of Elegant Leisure]
by the dramatist Gao Lian, yellow jade with a mellow tone
ranked the best amongst all variations of nephrite. Because
of its rarity, the brownish layer of outer skin was often
incorporated into the design of the carving, as seen on the
present lot, to increase the overall size and show the carver’s
respect for this highly valuable material.
Yellow jade works of this large size are very rare. Compare
two smaller examples from the collection of Palace Museum,
Beijing, one with ring handles on the sides, and the other
with angled shoulders, carved in low-relief with a taotie
band between plantain blades and with scrolling handles,
both illustrated in Li Jiu-fang, Huaxia guyu / Chinese Jades
throughout the Ages. Connoisseurship of Chinese Jades, vol.
12, Hong Kong, 1997, pls 30 and 31; another similar piece,
flanked by two extended chi-dragon handles, sold in our
Hong Kong rooms, 4th October 2016, lot 24. Compare also a
related yellow jade vase and cover but carved with the ‘Three
Friends of Winter’ in high relief, illustrated in The Woolf
Collection of Chinese Jade, London, 2013, pl. 1, p. 76; also a
related celadon jade piece, but with floral decoration in low
relief throughout the body, illustrated in Li Jiu-fang, op. cit.,
pl. 13; and a smaller plain yellow jade vase, flanked by two
openwork archaistic phoenix handles, sold twice at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 17th May 1988, lot 555, again, 29th April 1996,
lot 693, and a third time at Christie’s London, 15th May
2007, lot 374.

$ 60,000-80,000

182 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11275 183