Page 14 - Chinese Jades Nov 30 2017 Hong Kong

1

A PALE CELADON JADE CARVING OF A Sensitively modelled in openwork as a elegant spray of
TRUMPET VINE trumpet vine, the present carving exemplifies the craftsman’s
SONG DYNASTY masterful skill in transforming a raw jade pebble into the soft
naturalistic forms of a trumpet vine.
sensuously modelled as a half-opened trumpet flower borne
The present piece belongs to a group of delicately carved jade
on curved leafy stems, the five petals finely incised with veins,
ornaments inspired from natural forms, introduced in the
elegantly furled at the edges revealing long stamens, the stone
Song dynasty. The reverse of the flower was cleverly undercut
of a pale celadon tone flecked with russet
to create a gap between the flower and one of its leaves,
6.7 cm, 2⅝ in.
creating a hollowed slot through which a strap or a belt could
HK$ 50,000-70,000 pass, suggesting the present piece may have been used as a
US$ 6,500-9,000 belt slide. Jade belt slides such as the present piece served
as replacements for earlier metal or jade buckles which were
宋 青白玉雕凌霄花 heavier and more ungainly to use.
A closely related trumpet vine plaque attributed to the Song
dynasty is illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the
Palace Museum. Jade, vol. 5, Tang, Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan
Dynasties, Beijing, 2011, pl. 196. The rendering of the floral
spray, with the bloom wrapped amongst long leaves with
naturally furled edges, closely resembles that on the present
piece. Compare another example also rendered as a floral
spray, from the Hei-Chi collection and attributed to the
Song dynasty, published in Tao and Liu Yunhui, Jades from
the Hei-Chi Collection, Beijing, 2006, p.160. Another jade
ornament worked in the form of a morning glory spray, from
the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in
Zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol. 5, Beijing, 1998, pl. 88. See also
another example of the same subject as the present piece but
as a round ornament, published ibid, pl. 89. A later example
from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung, dated to the Ming
dynasty, is also discussed in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade
from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 340, pl. 25:20.

12 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比