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A rare and large archaistic pale green and grey jade
archaistic vase and cover
Qianlong fang gu four-character mark and of the period
The heavy greyish stone shaped as a flattened baluster vase, carved
on each side with a taotie mask beneath a pair of chilong dragon
heads amidst archaistic scrolls, all between two bands containing
C-scroll medallions, the neck with stiff pendent lappets and flanked
by two mythical beast-head loose-ring handles, the cover with a
band of linked ruyi heads beneath the stepped finial.
39cm (15 3/8in) high (2).
£50,000 - 80,000
HK$620,000 - 1,000,000 CNY490,000 - 790,000
清乾隆 青灰玉雕饕餮紋雙獸耳活環扁蓋瓶 「乾隆仿古」隸書刻款
Provenance: Hotel des Chevau-Légers, Versailles, 12th May 1974,
lot 140
A European private collection, no. PD 638
來源：凡爾賽Hotel des Chevau-Legers，1974年5月12日，拍品編
號140
歐洲私人收藏，編號PD 638
The four-character Qianlong fanggu mark may be translated as ‘in
imitation of antiquity’. The superb carving skills in the present lot,
together with the imitation of the archaic bronze form, is evidence of
the Qianlong Emperor’s fascination with archaic and ancient objects,
at the same time reflecting the zenith of craftsmanship during the
Qianlong period. Chang Li-tuan notes 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 that the
Qianlong Emperor proposed to ‘restore ancient ways’, suggesting
that jade carvers turn to antiquity for models, enabling to imbue
their designs with simplicity and honesty, achieving refinement
and elegance. The ‘ancient ways’ referred to the intrinsic values of
sincerity, simplicity, and happy exuberance.
The imperial collections in the Palace Museum, Beijing and the
National Palace Museum, Taipei, include a number of related
examples of jade vases imitating and inspired by archaic bronzes in
form and design dated to the Qianlong reign: see Zheng Xinmiao,
ed., Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum - Jade, Qing
Dynasty, vol.10, Beijing, 2010, pls.1,2,6,11-13, 20; and in Taipei,
Chang Li-tuan, ibid., pl.14.

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