Page 185 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art April 3 2018

of details on Qianlong-era archaistic jades is often very lively. 1 G. Wills, Jade of the East, New York, 1972, p. 93, figs 116-117.
This is evident in the carving of the animal-head loop handles 2 Sotheby’s London, 21st November 1961, lot 164, cover
on the present jade vases. By turns they are full-bodied and image. The caption specifies the work as formerly in the royal
flat; incised or in low relief and in such high relief as to be collection.
almost carved in the round. The stylistic divergence of the 3 Oriental Art Magazine, summer 1962, p. 88-89, fig. 7.
vases demonstrates the shifting fashions in Qianlong archaistic 4 Geoffrey Wills, op.cit., p. 93, figs 116-117.
jades. 5 Sotheby’s London, 16th December 1987, lot 472.
6 Giuseppe Eskenazi in collaboration with Hajni Elias, A Dealer’s
The Qianlong Emperor’s love of the past is grounded in his
Hand: The Chinese Art World Through the Eyes of Giuseppe
admiration for Chinese culture. Since the rise of epigraphic
Eskenazi, London, 2012, p. 237, fig. 157. Important Jade
studies during the Song Dynasty, the Chinese literati almost
Carvings from the Somerset de Chair Collection, Bonhams,
universally revered antique objects. For example, the Song
2014.
scholar Zhao Xihu, in his Dongtian qinglu ji, wrote that
7 China First Archive and the Art Museum of the Chinese
“Fondling a bronze bell or a ding is like witness Shang and
University of Hong Kong, eds, Qinggong Neiwufu Zaobanchu
Zhou times first-hand. [...] One forgets the human world of the
dang’an zonghui [General collection of archival records from
present, and enjoys what is called pure pleasure. [...] Is there
the Qing imperial household department workshop], Beijing,
anything better than this?” The Ming literatus Dong Qichang,
2005. Subsequent citations are likewise to this publication
in his Gudong shisan shuo, more explicitly defined antique
and are not individually specified.
objects as the medium through which to commune with and
8
Gugong bowuyuan wenwu cangpin daxi. Yuqi juan/
learn from the ancients. For him, bronzes and jades, symbols
Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade, vol.
of ancient rituals and music, were especially beneficial to one’s
10: Qing, Beijing, 2009, p. 24, fig. 3 (Gu 98477).
moral and ethical cultivation: “The virtue of the former kings
9 Xiqing gujian [Catalogue of Chinese ritual bronzes in
resides in rituals and music. The spirit of the literati resides
the collection of the Qianlong Emperor], vol. 21, fig. 19.
in painting and calligraphy. The appreciation of the vessels of
Woodblock-printed facsimile republished in Ginwen wenxian
ritual and music improves one’s virtue. The appreciation of ink
jicheng [Compilation of bronze script literature], vol. 3: Gudai
traces and their carved or printed reproductions refines one’s
wenxian, tuxiang yu mingwen zonglu [Summary of ancient
12
art. Even living in the present, one can meet the ancients”. If
literature, images and inscriptions], p. 496, according to the
a contemporary collector shares the state of mind described
version dated to the 20th year of the Qianlong period (1755),
above, and is not exclusively concerned with investment
Hong Kong, 2004.
and material gains, then he or she has recovered the original
10 See Zhang Liduan, ‘The Debacle of Jade: A Discussion of
motivation of collecting.
Prevailing Types of Jade and Imperial Taste During the
Middle and Late Ch’ien-lung Period’, Gugong xueshu jikan/
The National Palace Museum Research Quarterly, vol. 18, no.
2.
11 Qing gaozong (Qianlong) yuzhi shiwen quanji [Anthology of
imperial Qianlong poems and text], Beijing, 1993.
12 Cited in Zhang Liduan.

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