Page 164 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Jades, Met Museum Irving Collection NYC

86 㶭ġ 䡏 AN INSCRIBED SPINACH-
İġ
䌱
㮹 晽 GREEN JADE HINGED
⚳ġġġ 暚 PLAYTHING
沛
䲳 QING DYNASTY / REPUBLIC PERIOD
暁 comprising two short square-section pillars, each with a rounded
䫺 hinged capital on one end and hollowed from the other end, the
⺷ capitals notched at the pinnacle and connected by a central
剙 waisted triangular join at the top, when extended the pillars
㍺ forming a single column revealing the inscription, the other sides
carved in low relief with archaistic bird motifs, the stone a vibrant
emerald green with Þ ne veins in variegated hues, wood stand (2)

Length (open) 6 in., 15.2 cm

PROVENANCE 柴嬀ġĻ
Roger Keverne, Ltd., London, 6th October 1999. 廱㉀ㆸ䌱庠ġ⯽㓞屯䞕攟
Collection of Florence (1920-2018) and Herbert (1917-2016)
Irving, no. 476. ⸽枰庫⯢⮠ġ〘⎰䏊䏛䐗
春屐恋傥挍ġ墜⃫㛒嵛㕡
$ 40,000-60,000
慷㛸姕䴄䞑ġ䰚ὲ㷜䃉忹
Ḧ昮ㆲ䓛ẚ⢷⽉柴
Expertly carved in low relief with an archaistic motif that ⌘㔯ġĻġ
accentuates the stone’s luminous emerald-green tone, this piece ⎌楁ġ⣒䑆
bears the same poetic inscription as lot 85 in this sale. Modeled
after metal prototypes from the Han dynasty, it epitomizes the Ը๕
immense skills of jade carvers active in the 18th century, who œŰŨŦųġŌŦŷŦųůŦ炻ōŵťį炻ΐ㔎炻IJĺĺĺ⸜IJı㚰ķ㖍
created ever more ingenious designs to satisfy the Emperor’s ἃ伭ΐ㕗ġĩIJĺijıĮijıIJĹĪġ⍲崓ỗ䈡ġĩIJĺIJĸĮijıIJķĪɀ㫸
fondness for objects that were inspired by antiquity.
暚ằ⃟㓞啷炻䶐嘇ĵĸķ
Jade carvings of this extravagant form were a technical tour
de force. While hanging chains and movable rings had become
part of the Qing craftsmen’s repertoire, twin tubes and hinged
elements were more challenging as they required each part to be
carved individually and once assembled the whole piece would
need to seamlessly move as one. These ornaments were carved
as two hollowed containers connected through a central join and
a separate bar that was Þ tted in a slot carved through the three
elements. The containers and separate bar were held together
by two jade pins.
It is interesting to note that while the Qianlong Emperor believed
the metal prototypes to be measuring instruments, recent
archaeological evidence suggests that they were instead used
as Þ ttings. Copper double-tube Þ ttings were excavated at the
royal tomb of prince Liu Sheng (d. 113) and his wife Dou Wan in
Mancheng, Hebei province, and illustrated in Mancheng Han mu
fajue baogao [Excavation report of Han tombs at Mancheng],
Beijing, 1980, vol. 1, pl. 114, where the author explains that they
were used to join wooden posts in buildings, p. 121.

162 SOTHEBY’S