Page 108 - 2019 Nov 28 Sir Quo-Wei Lee Collection Hong Kong

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A SPINACH-GREEN JADE ‘TWIN FISH’ 清乾隆 碧玉年年有餘雙蝠活環耳洗
MARRIAGE BOWL
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD 碧玉年年有餘雙蝠耳洗，質地晶透翠綠，匠人巧妙運用
the deep rounded sides rising from a short foot to an everted 深淺玉色，托襯淺浮雕雙魚紋，宛若悠游水中，自在之
rim, flanked by a pair of bat handles suspending loose rings, 姿。此類大型玉洗，盛行於乾隆一朝，拜清國平定新疆
each bat with wings outstretched and incised with archaistic 回部之役，方得豐沛玉料資源；在此之前，京城可得玉
scrolls, the exterior worked in low relief with an undulating 料相對稀少，平定之後，新疆天山一帶進貢大量質高玉
lotus scroll, the interior with a pair of confronting fish
clasping in their mouths a stylised lotus spray, the stone of a 料，進而影響玉作風格。
variegated olive-green tone with black flecks
23.5 cm, 9 ¼ in. 相類玉洗甚稀，比較一件碧玉作例，亦雕魚紋於內，尺
寸略大，出自 Heber R. Bishop 舊藏，現存紐約大都
HK$ 700,000-900,000 會藝術博物館，藏品編號 0218.689。倫敦蘇富比曾售一
US$ 89,500-115,000 例，獸首耳，1950年7月25日，編號199；還有一例，
尺寸更大，曾為 T.B. Kitson、S. Bulgari、Enrico di
This bowl was fashioned from a spinach-green jade boulder
of striking translucency and depth of colour, skilfully Portanova 遞藏，曾於1956、1961年二度售於倫敦蘇富
enhanced by the low-relief carving of two fish. The natural 比，2008年5月27日售於香港佳士得，編號1604。
variegated hues of the stone were cleverly incorporated
into the design, thus make the fish appear as if swimming in 此類玉洗，於西方稱為「marriage bowl」，祝賀婚慶，
deep waters. Jade bowls of such generous proportions were 寓意吉祥。本品之雙魚紋，意喻「雙魚吉慶」，雙耳琢
popular in the Qianlong period, and the production of such
vessels was only possibly following the Qing army’s conquest 蝙蝠，意「雙福」，蝙蝠形似蝴蝶，更強調其婚姻和美
of the jade-rich Tianshan region, in modern Xinjiang 之意。
province. Prior to the conquest, jade came in relatively small
quantity to the capital, but thereafter large quantities of
high-quality jade boulders became available.
Bowls of this form and carved with this motif are unusual;
compare a slightly larger spinach-green jade bowl with
rounded sides and carved with fish on the interior, from the
collection of Heber R. Bishop, in the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York, accession no. 0218.689; one with animal-
head handles, sold in our London rooms, 25th July 1950, lot
199; and a much larger example from the collections of T.B.
Kitson, S. Bulgari and Enrico di Portanova, sold twice in our
London rooms in 1956 and 1961, and again at Christie’s Hong
Kong, 27th May 2008, lot 1604.
While bowls of this type are referred to in China as washers,
they are popularly known in the West as ‘marriage bowls’
on account of their auspicious imagery, which often alludes
to felicitous wishes for a long and happy married life. In the
case of the present piece, fish are symbolic of connubial
happiness as fish are believed to swim in pairs. Twin dish
(shuangyu) are also homophonous with the wish shuanyu
jiqing (May you be blessed with connubial bliss, fecundity
and an abundance of good luck). Furthermore, the handles
on this piece are carved with two bats (shuangfu) to indicate
double blessings, and resemble two butterflies when viewed
from the top to represent a joyful encounter and hence
marital bliss.

106 SOTHEBY ’S CHINESE ART