Page 57 - Irving Collection Part II Chinese Art

1110 A LARGE SPINACH-GREEN JADE TRIPOD CENSER AND COVER
CHINA, QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

Raised on three columnar legs, the sides of the vessel and cover fnely This censer is notable for its bold, well-proportioned, bulbous form
carved with archaistic decoration of alternating stylized taotie masks as well as its exquisitely carved bands of archaistic animal motifs and
and pairs of stylized dragons separated by an undulating band, the magnifcent, pierced, coiled dragon-form fnial. During the eighteenth
vessel fanked by S-shaped handles, with key-fret bands encircling the century, some of the fnest jade carvings found their inspiration
rims, the cover with coiled dragon fnial in archaic artefacts collected and treasured by the emperors. The
9¬ in. (24.4 cm.) diam. decorative motifs on the body of the present censer, as well as the
tripod form, draw inspiration from archaic bronze vessels.
$50,000-70,000
In his publication Jade, London, 1991, p. 164, Roger Keverne describes
PROVENANCE
this particular censer as a “classic example of spinach jade at its best
Collection of Sir John Buchanan-Jardine, Bart (1900-1969).
[...] the type of incense burner and cover found in the imperial palace.”
Sotheby’s, London, 8 June 1982, lot 306.
Compare the spinach-green jade censer and cover, dated to the mid-
Spink & Son, Ltd., London, 1982.
The Irving Collection, no. 401. Qing dynasty, carved with archaistic taotie motifs on the body and
with similar S-shaped handles and dragon-form fnial, in the collection
EXHIBITED
of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji,
London, Royal Academy of Arts, International Exhibition of Chinese Art,
vol. 6, Hebei, 1991, p. 54, no. 86.
1935-36.
清十八世紀 碧玉仿古龍紋三足蓋爐
LITERATURE
International Exhibition of Chinese Art, 1935, London, 1935, no. 2829.
A. Maynard, “Chinese and Indian Jade Carvings in the Collection of
Sir Isaac and Lady Wolfson”, The Connoisseur, June 1963, fg. 12.
Roger Keverne, Jade, London, 1991, p. 164, fg. 91.

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