Page 111 - Sotheby's Sir Quo Wei Lei Collection Oct. 3, 2018

Carved from a single piece of almost flawless
The Refined Taste of the Emperor. Special
white stone, this fangding vessel is outstanding Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the
for its quality. Although largely left undecorated Ch’ing Court, National Palace Museum, Taipei,
to emphasise the beauty of the boulder and clean 1997, p. 49, it is noted that the Emperor followed
lines of the archaic bronze shape, the skill of the the literati aesthetic that developed in the Song
craftsman is evident in the beautiful arches and dynasty, whereby the study and appreciation
beaded edges of the handles. This subtle feature of antiques allowed scholars “to experience
echoes the detailing seen on ancient bronzes the artistic freshness and moral strength of the
and Ming dynasty furniture popular throughout classical period. In turn, they hoped to invest
the 18th century, and fully demonstrates their own generation with these values, thus
the aspiration to adapt ancient forms to suit enriching both art and public life”. In order to
contemporary taste. promote this the Emperor ordered the court to
publish collections of drawings of antiquities and
Similar treatment to the handles can be seen
in a number of archaistic jade vessels dated to circulate them among craftsmen.
the Qianlong reign, including a fangding bearing Undecorated jade vessels of this form are very
the Emperor’s yuzhi seal mark, supported on rare, as they are more commonly carved with
similar tubular legs and carved with taotie masks, dense archaistic motifs, see one in the collection
exhibited in Virtuous Treasures. Chinese Jades of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco,
for the Scholar’s Table, University of Hong Kong, illustrated in René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé,
Hong Kong, 2008, no. 6; and another covered Chinese Jades in the Avery Brundage Collection,
vessel illustrated ibid., no. 33. Tokyo, 1977, pl. LIII; and another, with carved
straight legs and upright rim handles, in the
Indeed, the Qianlong Emperor had a strong
preference for wares that imitated antiquities National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the
and disapproval for the florid ‘new style’ is Museum’s exhibition Great National Treasures of
documented in palace records and poems that China, Taipei, 1996, cat. no. 45.
he composed. In the catalogue to the exhibition