Page 50 - Marchant Ninety Jades For 90 Years

二 22. Large openwork dragon plaque on an oval frame with a central large confronting dragon above a flaming pearl flanked by two other

十 dragons, all with detailed hairwork to their manes, amongst six lotus flowerheads, branches and leaves, the stone pale celadon with

二 slight russet markings, the underside with four pairs of holes for attachment.

6 ⅛ inches, 15.5 cm long; 5 ½ inches, 13.9 cm high.
鏤 Yuan/Ming dynasty, 14th/15th century.
雕

穿 • From the collection of a famous French scientist.
花 • A round confronting dragon plaque of this design, gift of Mr David R. S. Ezekiel in the Victoria & Albert Museum, was
龍
紋 included by Basil Gray, Jessica Rawson and John Ayers in the exhibition of Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, organized by The
飾 Arts Council of Great Britain and The Oriental Ceramic Society, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1975, no. 407, p. 124, pl. 154,
and by Ming Wilson in Chinese Jades, no. 27, p. 31; another, from the collection of Dr Richard E. Fuller, is illustrated by James

青 C. Y. Watt in Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, no. 51, p. 78, where the author notes, ‘The rampant
白 dragon with head in frontal position is a common motif in the decorative arts of the late Ming period from the Jiajing reign to
玉 the end of the dynasty. It is often seen on decorative porcelains and carved lacquer of the time. The workmanship and the shape

of the round frame are also in keeping with this dating’; another confronting-dragon plaque in the Palace Museum Beijing, is

元 illustrated by Roger Keverne in Jade, fig. 34, p. 142; a further example, from the collection of Michael S. L. Liu, is illustrated by

/ Christina Chu in Auspicious Emblems, Chinese Cultural Treasures, the 45th anniversary exhibition of the Min Chiu Society, Jointly
明 presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Min Chiu Society, organized by the Hong Kong Museum of

Art, 2005-2006, no. 3, p. 86; yet another pierced dragon plaque, also dated to the Ming dynasty, is illustrated by Zhou Nan-

quan in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum, Jadeware (II), vol. 41, no. 172, p. 214; another is illustrated

by Xu Lin in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Jade, Vol. 6, Ming Dynasty, Gu Gong Inventory no. Gu 221826,

no. 170, pp. 190/1.

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