Page 233 - Chiense works of art sothebys march 14 2017 nyc

751

A WHITE JADE ARCHAISTIC VASE
AND COVER
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG
PERIOD

of attened form, the baluster body rising from a
stepped foot, the waisted neck surmounted by a
lipped rim and anked by a pair of mythical beast-
mask handles each suspending a loose ring, nely
carved in low relief to each side with a stylized
taotie mask, all between bands of ruyi heads
above the foot and below the rim, the domed
cover similarly decorated and surmounted by a
plain nial, the softly polished stone of an even
color with some icy-white inclusions, textile stand
(3)
Height 8⅛ in., 20.7 cm

PROVENANCE

Acquired in Boston, 2001.

This masterfully carved vase encapsulates the
Qianlong Emperor’s reverence for the past and
his passion for jade. It is outstanding both for its
exceptional quality stone and crisp design on an
elegant form. The con dent carving of the taotie
mask and the three-dimensionality of the two
animal-head handles perfectly complement the
white even tone of the stone. Jade vases are often
unique, as their size and decoration depends
entirely on the jade stone used to fashion them.
The proportions and taotie mask on this piece are
closely related to a vase in the National Palace
Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s
exhibition The Re ned Taste of the Emperor.
Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of
the Ch’ing Court, Taipei, 1997, cat. no. 5.

A hu vase carved with a related mask, in the Asian
Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated in
René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé, Chinese Jades in
the Avery Brundage Collection, Tokyo, 1977, pl.
LII, where the author mentions a further similar
vase in the Museum’s collection, dated 1789, p.
118; and a yellow jade vase, with a Qianlong mark
and of the period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
is published in Zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol. 6,
Shijiazhuang, 1993, pl. 132.

In response to the ‘vulgarization’ of Chinese
jade carving in the 18th century, which was
characterized by decorative high-relief carving,
the Qianlong Emperor commissioned a large
number of jades which were inspired by the
forms and designs of antiquity. Jade carvers were
encouraged to move away from the ‘new style’
by studying archaic bronze vessels in the Palace
collection or in illustrated woodblock prints, and
adapting them to the medium of jade. Inspired in
both its form and decoration by archaic bronze
hu, this vase epitomizes this trend.

$ 80,000-120,000

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 231