Page 39 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

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PROPERTY OF A LADY Among the many rulers in China’s extensive history, the
Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty is arguably one of the
A FINELY CARVED IMPERIAL SPINACH-GREEN greatest in respect to his connoisseurship and appreciation of
JADE AXE the nation’s art. During his long reign, he collected and studied
FANGGU MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG masterpieces from antiquity, and instructed his craftsmen to
draw inspiration from these objects. The present jade axe is an
the trapezoidal form worked in low relief on each side with a
band enclosing a taotie mask, flanked by a pair of projecting example of the type of objects produced under the patronage
toothed flanges on the sides, above a six-character fanggu of the Qianlong reign. While it was inspired by archaic jade
reign mark and an inscription reading Yue zi di shiliu hao axes, it isn’t a mere copy of its prototype as its lively design
(number 16 of yue) respectively proudly displays the technical advances made in lapidary art in
18.3 cm, 7⅛ in. the Qing dynasty.
This axe is particularly special as it bears a fanggu
PROVENANCE (‘exemplifying antiquity’) reign mark and is inscribed with the
A European private collection. characters Yue zi di shiliu, identifying this piece as the 16th in
Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 2961. a series of objects called yue. The inscription is an inventory
number, and the name of the series was taken from the Qianzi
HK$ 950,000-1,200,000 wen (The thousand character essay), a well-known literacy text
US$ 123,000-155,000 with precisely a thousand characters, each written only once,
which are used to compose rhythmic four-character couplets
in seven chapters. The character yue appears as the 10th
清乾隆 御製碧玉仿古獸面紋斧 character in the essay.
《大清乾隆仿古》、《月字第十六號》款 A jade axe inscribed with the inventory number Yang zi
sanshier hao (number 32 of yang), in the Palace Museum,
來源： Beijing, is illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the
歐洲私人收藏 Palace Museum. Jade, vol. 8, Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011,
香港佳士得2011年11月30日，編號2961 pl. 9; one from the Liang series, in the Fitzwilliam Museum,
Cambridge, is illustrated in C.S. Lin, ‘The Collection of Qing
Dynasty Jades in the Fitzwilliam Museum’, Arts of Asia, May-
June 2010, pl. 14, together with one from the Zan series, p. 115;
and a white jade axe from the He series, was sold at Christie’s
New York, 24th March 2011, lot 1532.

Marks

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