Page 12 - Christie's Fine Jade the LZJ Collection NYC September 21, 2023

803

A RARE MINIATURE PALE YELLOWISH-GREEN AND RUSSET 宋 明 青褐玉角形盃
JADE RHYTON
Ϝ源
SONG-MING DYNASTY (AD 960-1644) 安思遠（ ）
紐☼
"OUIPOZ $BSUFS
і敦
年 月 日
The rhyton is carved with an inverted horned beast mask at the bottom, with its horns acting
-+;珍藏
美४
as feet for the vessel and the curled mane forming the handle. The upper body is decorated in
high relief with a clambering chilong reserved on an archaistic scroll ground. The stone is of a ֨ḛ
" $BSUFS
Ǘ5IF -+; $PMMFDUJPO PG
pale yellowish-green tone with some russet patches.
$IJOFTF +BEFTǘ
і敦
年
頁
1q in. (3.8 cm.) high 編號
$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE:
Robert H. Ellsworth (1929-2014), New York.
Anthony Carter, London, 29 March 2004.
The LJZ Collection, United States.

LITERATURE:
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 72-73, no. 31.
In China’s history, there were two major peaks of significant antiquarian interest, the
th
th
first during the Northern Song dynasty, 11 -12 centuries, and the second during the late
Ming-early Qing dynasty, 16 -18 centuries. See Jenny So, “Impressions of Times Past:
th
th
th
Chinese Jades of the 12 and 17 Centuries”, The Woolf Jade Lecture, 16 March 2010,
th
published in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society 74 (2009-2010), 2011, pp. 75-88.
On p. 77, So illustrates two miniature archaistic jade vessels that are dated Southern
Song dynasty, a you, fig. 2a, from the tomb of Zhu Xiyan (d. 1201), Xiuning, Anhui province
and a hu, from the tomb of Fan Wenhu (d. 1301), Anqing, Anhui province, as well as two
vessels dated Ming dynasty or earlier, a hu in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and a
hu with cover and swing handle from the tomb of Mu Rui (d. 1609), Nanjing, p. 78, figs. 3
and 4 respectively. So proposes that “these small jade containers were produced
as refined objects for private consumption, displayed as precious novelties,
802
elegant symbols of a scholar’s link with a bygone era” and had been
“treasured as ‘literati playthings (wenwan)’ to grace a scholar’s studio.”
A RARE BEIGE AND RUSSET JADE FOOTED CUP 遼 宋 紐㎞㉀玉盃
LIAO-SONG DYNASTY (AD 907-1279) The present miniature carving of an archaistic rhyton is evidence of this
Ϝ源
安思遠（ ）
紐☼
藏品編號 antiquarian interest, as is another similar miniature jade archaistic rhyton
Raised on a slightly splayed foot, the cup has shallow, rounded sides and is carved on the
+( (1w in.) in the collection of the British Museum illustrated by Desmond
exterior with a single rope-twist band. The semi-translucent stone has some russet veining.
"OUIPOZ $BSUFS
і敦
年 月 日 Gure in “Selected Examples from the Jade Exhibition at Stockholm, 1963;
2w in. (7.4 cm.) diam. -+;珍藏
美४ A Comparative Study”, B.M.F.E.A., no. 36, Stockholm, 1964, pp. 117-58,
pl. 29, fig. 1, where it is dated to the Tang dynasty. As with the present
$30,000-50,000 ֨ḛ
miniature rhyton, the horned-shaped vessel rises from the jaws of a
" $BSUFS
Ǘ5IF -+; $PMMFDUJPO PG
makara head that forms the base while its S-shaped tail forms
$IJOFTF +BEFTǘ
і敦
年
頁
PROVENANCE: the handle.
編號
Robert H. Ellsworth (1929-2014), New York, no. JG380.
Anthony Carter, London, 29 March 2004.
The LJZ Collection, United States.
LITERATURE:
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 16-17, no. 3.
Several features of this elegant jade cup can also be found on two jade vessels dated to
the Song period that are illustrated by Jessica Rawson in “Chinese Jade throughout the
ages”, T.O.C.S., vol. 40, 1973-75, nos. 268 and 275. No. 268 is a plain jade (9.2 cm.) cup
raised on a foot with projecting bottom edge similar to the foot of the present cup, while
no. 275 is a zhi-shaped vessel decorated with similar rope-twist bands.

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