Page 75 - Christie's Irving Collection Lacquer Bronse jade and Ink March 2019

“ See how the small fsh are darting about [in the water].
That is the happiness of fsh.”

ZHUANGZI, QIU SHUI秋水 THE FLOODS OF AUTUMN, CHAPTER 17

(Dazongshi 大宗師”Great Ancestral Master”), Zhuangzi he commanded to be applied to the base of the vessel. Of
recounts Confucius’ comments to illustrate Daoist attitudes. all the Ming and Qing emperors, Gaozong (the Qianlong
Confucius said: “Fish are born in water. Man is born in the emperor) was perhaps the most fervent collector and patron
Dao. If fsh, born in water, seek the deep shadows of the of jade carving. In the early part of his reign the emperor
pond or pool then they have everything they need. If man, was frequently dissatisfed with the work of the lapidaries
born in the Dao, sinks deep into the shadows of non-action, producing carved jades for the court and encouraged the
forgetting aggression and worldly concern, then he has craftsmen to achieve higher standards of perfection. One
everything he needs, and his life is secure. The moral of this of the problems for the jade carvers in the early years of
is that all fsh need is to lose themselves in water, while all the reign was the lack of suitable jade, and it was only in
man needs is to lose himself in the Dao.” It is therefore not the 1750s, after the punitive battles against the Dzungar
surprising that the depiction of fsh in water came to provide tribes and Hui people, that the Xinjiang area was captured
a rebus for yushui hexie 魚水和拹 “may you be as harmonious for the Chinese empire and Khotan jade was sent to the
as fsh and water”. When the fsh in the bottom of the court as tribute each spring and autumn. With this newly
present jade washer were covered with water they would available source of fne, raw jade, the lapidaries in the
perfectly represent this wish for harmony. palace workshops could produce carved jade pieces of
the exemplary standard sought by the emperor. Clearly,
The Qianlong emperor’s great love of jade combined with the present jade washer met the extremely high imperial
his passion for antiques resulted in his commissioning expectations and was deemed a ftting vessel on which
signifcant numbers of archaistic jade items for his court, to inscribe a poem from the imperial brush and two of his
a number of which were inscribed with the characters imperial majesty’s favorite seals.
Qianlong fanggu 乾隆仿古 – “Qianlong copying the ancient.”
In the case of the present jade washer, the emperor’s Rosemary Scott
Senior International Academic Consultant, Asian Art
intentions are made quite clear from the inscription that

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