Page 52 - Sothebys Speelman Gems of Chinese Art

fig. 1 fig. 2
Jade ‘chilong’-handled washer, Eastern Han dynasty Jade ‘cloud’ cup, Tang dynasty
Qing court collection Qing court collection
Image Courtesy of Palace Museum, Beijing Image Courtesy of Palace Museum, Beijing

The shape of the washer has a broad mouth. form and workmanship. They all emanate from
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Apart from Wenfang si bao (‘four treasures of the Imperial collection (fig. 2) .
the scholar’s desk’), it is the most important item
From excavated evidence, it is clear that the
on the scholar’s desk. Scholar’s desks are first
earliest jade brush washer was excavated at the
seen in the Eastern Han dynasty, but there are no
Southern Song Shisheng Zu tomb – a celadon
excavated records of washers. So it is impossible
lotus-leaf shaped washer. The shape resembles
to determine exactly when they started being
a giant lotus leaf, using a carved stem as a
used. There is, however, an Eastern Han jade
handle. The shape is from a natural plant. The
‘chilong’ object that resembles a washer in the
design is skillfully designed, and is the prototype
collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (fig.
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for Qing dynasty plant-shaped washers . The
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1) , but it is impossible to determine if that is its
Yuan dynasty Qianyu tomb in Wuxi unearthed a
precise function. Furthermore, there is one jade
celadon peach-shaped washer . The branches
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zun-shaped bottle excavated at the Western Jin
and leaves were incorporated into the handle,
tomb of Liu Hong in Anxiang, present day Hunan
and the body of the washer is like a half peach.
province . From the shape and decoration, it
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From then on, jade craftsmen adhered to this
can be deduced that the date is Western Han.
form.
Traces of ink can still be found in the vase,
confirming that it may originally have been used An early Ming dynasty tomb excavated in
as a type of brush washer. If this is the case, it Shandong revealed a set of scholar’s objects,
demonstrates that there is no standard form for including a jade brush, celadon jade ink stone,
a brush washer. After the Jin and Tang dynasties, celadon jade brushrest and a white jade floral-
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and up until the Yuan, there was a proliferation shaped washer , which resembles a beautiful
of scholar’s objects, but only a small number flower. Approaching the Ming dynasty, the shape
created from jade. The most commonly used of jade washers became increasingly beautiful.
material for washers was porcelain. From what From Ming dynasty records, it is known that
we see from the Palace Museum, there are a few ‘brushwashers are in the form of alm’s bowls,
jade examples, all of which exude top-quality rectangular, circular, some of them decorated,
50 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比