Page 74 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2015 Hong Kong

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A RARE SPINACH-GREEN JADE ‘HEAVENLY BIRD’ JAR, ZUN
Qianlong/Jiaqing
Of globular form, the shoulders carved in relief with three evenly
spaced heavenly birds, each with its talons perched on the flared
hollow foot, the wings outstretched with finely incised details at the
plumage, all above archaistic scrolls delicately worked in low relief,
the stone of a rich spinach-green tone with dark speckles.
10.1cm (4in) wide

HK$250,000 - 400,000
US$32,000 - 52,000

清乾隆/嘉慶 碧玉天雞尊

Provenance 來源:
Spink & Son Ltd., London (label)
An English private collection

倫敦斯賓克（標籤）
英國私人收藏

The three archaistic flying mythical creatures are known as ‘heavenly A similar spinach-green jar, Qianlong mark and period, is illustrated
birds’ or tianji and are commonly mistaken as phoenixes. The legend in Masterworks of Chinese Jade in the National Palace Museum,
of tianji dates back to the Jin dynasty (AD 265–420) as recorded in Supplement, Taipei, 1973, no.41.
Xuanzhongji or ‘Records of Mysterious Phenomenons’ by the Eastern
Jin scholar and writer Guo Pu (AD 276-324). It is said that there lies a A similar jar of darker spinach-green jade, Qianlong seal mark and
giant tree on Mount Taodu whereby the tree is so immense it shades period, sold in our London rooms, 15 May 2014, lot 181.
an area of five thousand kilometres. The tianji is found perched on the
tree while other birds mimic its singing. Another 4th-6th century record 此尊上的三隻天雞仿漢代鳩式而作，見《Chinese Jades Throughout
also mentions the tianji as a bird that could fly a thousand miles high the Ages - Connoisseurship of Chinese jades》，卷二，頁136-137；
and whose flapping wings would produce thunderous sounds when 一說天雞尊雛形取自唐代玉尊，見《故宮博物院藏品大系：玉器編5
outstretched. （唐宋遼金元）》，北京，2011年，圖1。

An earlier prototype from the Tang dynasty of this unusual form of jade 乾隆帝嗜古如痴，崇尚慕古之風，此天雞尊正式受到此種審美影響下
zun is illustrated by Zheng Xinmiao, Compendium of Collections in the 而產生的作品，台北故宮博物院藏一件清乾隆碧玉雕天雞尊，下刻乾
Palace Museum: Jade 5: Tang, Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties,
Beijing, 2011, no.1. However, it appears that the inspiration for the 隆款，著錄於《故宮玉器選萃：特輯》，台北，1973年，圖41。倫敦
form may stretch back further into ancient Chinese history: in Chinese 邦瀚斯曾售出一件類似的碧玉天雞尊，亦刻有乾隆款，2014年5月15
Jades Throughout the Ages - Connoisseurship of Chinese jades, 日，編號181。
Vol.II, pp.136-137, no.68, Li illustrates another 18th century example
of the jar, but also notes that ‘this piece imitates a style of turtledove
decoration from the Han period.’

This vessel is consistent with the style advocated by the Qianlong
emperor; as noted by Chang Li-tuan in The Refined Taste of the
Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the
Ch’ing Court, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1997, p.49, the
Qianlong emperor proposed to ‘restore ancient ways’, suggesting that
jade carvers turn to antiquity for models, which would enable them
to imbue their designs with simplicity and honesty, and so achieve
refinement and elegance. The ‘ancient ways’ referred to the intrinsic
values of sincerity, simplicity, and happy exuberance.

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