Page 158 - Imperial Sale Chinese Works of Art June 1 2016 HK
P. 158
another view
另一面
3270 the current bowl is heavily influenced by Mughal jades, one of Qianlong
Emperor’s most admired type of jades. This can be seen on the use of
A FINELY CARVED AND RARE WHITE JADE the acanthus motif forming the handles, as well as the layered petal
MALLOW-FORM WASHER bands covering the whole of the body. The petals themselves are carved
with great care, especially on the outer bands, which in some cases turn
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795) slightly downwards at the tips with an added naturalism, a feature often
seen on Mughal carvings. However, on Mughal jade bowls the petals
The washer is carved to the interior and correspondingly to normally emanate from the centre straight, while in the current bowl they
the exterior in the form of an open mallow bloom, the sides are obliquely carved, as if overlapping. This and the use of mallow are all
carved and pierced with acanthus handles suspending loose rings, reminiscent of the mallow-form lacquer dishes from the Song dynasty
supported on four short ruyi-shaped feet, the highly-polished (such as the one in the Nezu Institue of Fine Arts, illustrated in The Colours
stone of an even white tone with some snowy-white inclusions. and Forms of Song and Yuan China, Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo,
9 º in. (23.5 cm.) wide 2004, no. 20). Another jade bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is also
decorated overall with overlapping mallow petals. Not only do the oblique
HK$2,400,000-3,500,000 US$320,000-450,000 petals add movement to the appearance of the current bowl, they also
disguise a natural flaw in the stone, a clever solution in turning a problem
PROVENANCE into an advantage.
The T.B. Kitson Collection (III), sold at Sotheby’s London, 清乾隆 白玉葵瓣式莨苕耳活環洗
30 May 1961, lot 445
John Sparks Ltd., London, purchased on 31 May 1961 來源
Sold at Christie’s London, 4 November 2008, lot 11 英國T.B. Kitson珍藏；倫敦蘇富比，1961年5月30日，拍品445號
John Sparks Ltd.，倫敦，1961年5月31日
This elegant washer shows several influences in its design and is a 倫敦佳士得，2008年11月4日，拍品11號
wonderful example of how the jade carvers at the court developed
their decorative repertoires. The basic shape of a bowl with two
handles suspending loose rings is very much indigenous and especially
popular from the Qing dynasty onwards. It is probably derived from
the archaic gui shape, which has a circular bowl on a low foot ring
and two ‘C’-scroll handles, but without the loose rings. However,
156 END OF MORNING SESSION
