Page 185 - Sotheby's Sir Quo Wei Lei Collection Oct. 3, 2018

Perfectly proportioned and expertly finished to a lustrous 白玉提樑卣，光潤瑩亮，巧緻精美，此類仿古玉器反映乾隆
sheen, this vase belongs to a group of jade vessels created 帝慕古之心。玉匠取高古青銅器卣之造形，琢饕餮獸面紋，
in the Qianlong era that successfully combine archaic forms 端雅秀麗，雖見古風，卻無高古銅器威嚴氣勢。
and designs with contemporary styles in response to the
Emperor’s eclectic taste. The craftsman of the present piece 本品採大型淨白玉石琢成，如此珍稀玉料多為和闐、葉爾羌
has skilfully taken the large form of an archaic bronze you 一帶朝貢而來，進貢美玉得宮廷造辦處玉作、蘇州、淮、長
vessels, and combined it with a taotie mask that has been 蘆等地作坊匠人細擇琢之，成品進呈帝王鑑審，復可陳設於
simplified into an elegant, almost abstract motif. By reducing
the size and refining the design, the craftsman has created 宮殿廳堂。
a delicate jade piece that is far-removed from the imposing
nature of the bronze original. 乾隆朝卣形玉器，參考北京故宮博物院藏二例，提樑光素，
刊於楊伯達，《華夏古玉：鑑賞篇》，卷12，香港，1997
This vase was fashioned from a jade boulder of large size and 年，圖版48、49。Pierre de Menasce 男爵舊藏一件白玉
attractive even colour. Such jade boulders were frequently 卣，售於紐約 Doyle，2014年3月17日，編號273。
sent as tribute gifts to the court from the jade-rich territories
of Khotan and Yarkand, areas opened only after the Qing
army’s conquest of the north-western territories. The finest
quality pebbles were then selected to be carved by artisans
working in the Palace Workshop, in the jade workshops
of Suzhou, or in those belonging to the Huai and Changlu
Administrations. The finished product was later presented to
the emperor for approval and displayed in the Palace.
For other you-shaped vases from the Qianlong period, see
two white jade vases with a plain swing handle, in the Palace
Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Yang Boda, Chinese Jades
Throughout the Ages. Connoisseurship of Chinese Jades, vol.
12, Hong Kong, 1997, pls 48 and 49. See also a white jade you-
shaped vase from the estate of Baron Pierre de Menasce, sold
at Doyle New York, 17th March 2014, lot 273.