Page 27 - Sothebys Speelman Gems of Chinese Art

This outstanding vase group, carved from green quartz of The scholarly elite would enjoy pausing while writing or
the most delicate gem-like colour, is a truly superb desk painting, and at such times an opulent desk ornament such as
ornament, possibly a product of the Zaobanchu (Imperial the current vessel, teeming with luxuriant imagery of swirling
Palace Workshops), created to furnish Imperial halls in the clouds and mountain peaks, would remind them of the natural
Qianlong period. Sumptuously carved in varying levels of relief world and the harmony associated with the Daoist view of the
with opulent iconography of a dragon, phoenix and lingzhi universe. The sumptuous sprigs of lingzhi would evoke the
amidst mystical swirling clouds and mountain peaks, its use fabled island of Peng Lai. The imagery of the phoenix, paired
would have transcended that of a mere flower receptacle to be with a dragon, is emblematic of the empress and emperor,
a conduit for the admirer to transport himself to an imaginary suggesting an Imperial provenance.
world. Preserved with its original superbly carved wood stand,
For a rock crystal vase carved in relief with a dragon, see
itself no doubt a product of the Palace Workshops, it is an
the example donated by Heber Bishop to the Metropolitan
extraordinary legacy of the sumptuous Qianlong reign.
Museum of Art in 1902, acc. no. 02.18.820. See also a smoky
The green quartz it is carved from, a rare material that crystal vase and cover in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
naturally occurs when ‘vernarine’ green is suffused in the London, carved with dragons and flowering trees, illustrated in
silicate crystal, is of superlative quality. Naturally occurring Soame Jenyns, Chinese Art III, Fribourg, 1981, p. 214, pl. 189.
quartz including rock crystal has been recorded and admired For jade vases with related iconography, see a large pale green
as far back as the Tang dynasty, where it is described as a jade vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, similarly worked with
product of ‘water turned to stone’ and ‘a beautiful material a long chilong depicted clambering over the rim of the vessel,
imported from Persia’, hence the Chinese name shuijing, see Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese jades].
‘the brilliance of water’. It was popular with the literati who vol. 6, Hebei, 1991, pl. 148, and an 18th century yellow jade
associated clear crystal with ‘plain beauty’ and had various zun-form vase worked in relief with a dragon and phoenix, sold
scholars’ objects made of this material, especially during the in these rooms, 11th April 2008, lot 3096.
Qianlong period. Clear rock crystal is frequently found, but it is
extremely rare to find raw material of this exquisite pale green
colour, which would have been a great luxury at that time.

GEMS OF CHINESE ART — THE SPEELMAN COLLECTION I 25