Page 50 - Bonhams Chinese Art March 2016 New York

8065
AN IMPERIAL GILT-DECORATED SPINACH JADE
MUSICAL CHIME, QING
Dated Qianlong 29th year, corresponding to 1764, the gilding later
The dark green stone shaped as an asymmetric chevron, with
one squared end and one tapered end and a hole for suspension
carved at the top angle, each broad side with the gilt-painted traces
of a pair of five-clawed dragons reaching towards a flaming pearl
among cloud scrolls, the longer upper edge incised and gilt with the
characters wu yi and the shorter upper edge with the characters
Qianlong ershijiu nianzhi.
13 5/8in (34.4cm) long, longest edge
$50,000 - 70,000
1764年 碧玉描金龍紋罄 《乾隆二十九年》《無射》款
Sets of jade chimes, and the mysterious, reverberating, unearthly
sounds they can produce, were a central element of complex
rituals in China. Such rituals were not only spiritual but also political A set of sixteen jade chimes dated 1764 from the Palace Museum,
in their significance: performance of the highly circumscribed
grand sacrifices of state underpinned the legitimacy of the dynasty
and established the Emperor as the single intermediary between
Heaven and Earth.
Stone chimes may be traced back to about 1700 BC, and jade
chimes from the late Eastern Zhou period. The notes of these
archaic chimes were not simply for musical pleasure, but held a
higher, moral power which was considered vital to the health of the
state. The Book of Music states that “when the early rulers formed
Music, their purpose was not to satisfy the senses, but rather to
bring people back to the correct direction in life”: see Immortal
Images: The Jade Collection of Margaret and Trammel Crow,
Dallas, 1989, p. 28. The archaic origins and moral purpose would
have greatly appealed to the Qianlong Emperor, who placed much
emphasis on high moral behavior achieved through the restoration
of ancient ways.
48 | BONHAMS
Jade chimes such as the present lot are made of dark spinach green
jade, in contrast to the yellow and white jade which was also prized
during the height of Qing jade production. The dark stone was then
sometimes enlivened by gilding of dragons or inscriptions, although
the stone was often left undecorated but for the inscribed date and
the tone. They were produced in sets of 16 tones (or twelve tones and
four half-tones) and were commissioned in astonishing numbers: see
for example a chime from the Avery Brundage Collection in the Asian
Art Museum, San Francisco, illustrated in Later Chinese Jades: Ming
Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century, San Francisco, 2997, no. 196,
where it is noted that more than 160 chimes were commissioned by
the Qianlong Emperor from the Suzhou workshops in 1761.
Given the size, rarity and expense of the jade required for each set,
their importance for status and ritual cannot be underestimated. A set
of such chimes, suspended from an elaborately carved and tasseled
stand would have been an awe-inspiring sight.
Beijing, was exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, in 2005 and
illustrated in the catalog China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795, no.
31. Another chime with the same tone as the present lot, wuyi, from
the Qing Court Collection is illustrated in The Complete Collection of
Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 2006,
no. 1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Freer
Sackler Gallery in Washington DC, both contain in their collections
a jade chime dated to the Kangxi period corresponding to 1716:
museum accession numbers 03.15.1 and F1982.11a-d, respectively.
Compare also a gilt spinach jade chime dated to Qianlong 29th year,
with the tone beiyizi, sold at Sotheby’s Paris, 10 June 2014, sale
PF1407, lot 80, and another ungilded spinach jade chime also dated
Qianlong 29th year, with the tone beinanlu, sold at Sotheby’s London,
6 November 2013, sale L13211, lot 168.