Page 178 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art April 3 2018

THE QIANLONG EMPEROR’S

TREASURED ARCHAISTIC JADE VASE

XU LIN

According to Sima Qian‘s Records of the Grand Historian, This jade vase reputedly belonged to Admiral Humman, a
King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty wore jades all over his body late nineteenth-century commander of the China fleet of the
and ascended Lutai to die in flames. But he only appeared to French navy, but unfortunately there is no further information
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love jades and in fact wanted to use these lasting stones as on its provenance. It appeared around 1960-1961 in London
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a means to gain immortality. Among Chinese emperors of and Milan, and was sold in our London rooms in 1961. It was
the past, the one who had a true passion for jades and who published in Oriental Art Magazine in 1962, and in Jade of
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remains profoundly influential on our appreciation of them was the East by G. Wills in 1972. In 1987, it was sold at Christie’s
Hongli, the Qianlong Emperor, Gaozong of the Qing dynasty. London in 1987 to Spink & Son, London and then collected
by Somerset de Chair (1911-1955), a British author, poet, and
The Emperor Gaozong, whose reign title was Qianlong, was
politician who served as a Conservative MP. After de Chair’s
the fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor. The Qianlong
passing, his wife retained the vase. It was published in the
Emperor reigned for 60 years and was one of the few historical
important publications A Dealer’s Hand: The Chinese Art World
emperors obsessed with jades. And it was during this jade-
through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi and Important Jade
obsessed Emperor’s reign that Chinese jade art reached an
Carvings from the Somerset de Chair Collection in 2012 and
unprecedented peak.
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2014 respectively. From the above, the provenance of the
Qianlong-era jades can be divided into jades in period styles vase is clearly traceable, and it may first have been taken to
(shizuo yu) and archaistic jades (fanggu yu). Through the the United Kingdom during the late-Qing period.
present pair of Khotan-green jade vases, we may understand
The Qianlong fanggu mark on the base of the vase indicates
the Qianlong Emperor’s appreciation of and taste for archaistic
that it is a Qianlong-period archaistic jade. Six comparable
jades.
works are in the Palace Museum in Beijing, including two
The current Khotan-green jade archaistic jade is 41.5 cm carved from similar Khotan-green jade, three from green and
in height, 11.5 cm in diameter around the mouth, 11.9 cm in white jade, and one from emerald. All six are incised at the
diameter around the base, and 23 cm in diameter around the bottom with seal marks, one of which is identical to that on the
waist. It is generously proportioned. It was ground and worked present vase. The other five bear the marks of Daqing Qianlong
from Khotan-green jade that is warm and rich in tonality, fanggu. The present vase and four of the Palace Museum vases
with a shimmering luminescence due to its rich content of are taller than 40 cm, while the remaining two are respectively
natural oils. The vase has a smooth and rich natural patina 38 cm and 29 cm in height, indicating that such vases tend to
that immediately identifies it as a masterwork of the Qianlong be large.
imperial court. The body of the vase is divided by a total of six
Among the six comparable vases in the Palace Museum
bands worked in shallow relief. From top to bottom, the neck
collection, five are inscribed with Qianlong’s poems, mostly
is carved with S-shaped motifs and semi-geometrical dragon
around the lower waist or around the neck. There are two such
patterns in shallow relief and incised with three decorative
poems, one composed in the 27th year of the Qianlong reign
bands of whirlpool patterns. The waist features two wide
and entitled On the Khotan Jade Vase with Aquatic Creatures
bands of aquatic creatures, each group of which consists of
(fig. 1). The other poem was composed in the 56th year of the
a fish, a turtle, a wild duck, and a snake. Vividly depicted and
Qianlong reign and entitled On the Han-dynasty Style Khotan
uniquely posed, the animals respectively swim, crawl, walk, lift
Jade Vase with Aquatic Creatures (fig. 2). All five vases bear
their heads and catch snakes. The groups are divided also by
imperial reign marks and seals.
bands worked in shallow relief, but unlike the bands around the
neck, these bands are recessed in the middle, requiring much Both poems refer to the prototype of the jade vases in the form
more work and indicating the craftsman’s skilful articulation of a Han-dynasty bronze vase with aquatic creatures. In his
of details and textures. A circular plaited rope-twist band is own annotations to his poems, the Qianlong Emperor refers to
decorated around the round foot, with conscientiously incised the jade vases as “created in imitation of a Han-dynasty vase
patterns. The three animal-head loop handles, located on two with aquatic creatures,” and the latter is illustrated in Xiqing
sides of the neck and on the waist respectively, are articulated gujian. “Now the Han-dynasty vase with aquatic creatures
in high relief approaching carving in the round. The rings rotate from Xiqing gujian is only 9 cun and 4 fen in height, and the
freely. The craftsmanship is flawless. The bottom of the vase current [jade] vase is over 2 cun taller. It was fashioned from
is inscribed in seal script with the four characters Qianlong the raw jade. Its precious quality and monumental size were
fanggu. Tidy and elegant, these characters were probably never seen in ancient times.” In this passage we sense clearly
wheel-cut. the Qianlong Emperor’s delight in ordering the creation of the
176 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比