Page 166 - Christies September 13 to 14th Fine Chinese Works of Art New York

1197
A RARE MOTTLED GREEN AND GREENISH-WHITE JADEITE Other Qing dynasty archaistic hinged jade twin-bi include the example carved d
HINGED TWO-PART ORNAMENT OR BELT FITTING on both sides with a pattern of small bosses and with movable reticulated
18TH-19TH CENTURY centers, from the collection of Arthur M. Sackler, sold at Christie’s New York, ,
18 March 2009, lot 399, and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6 April 2016,
The ornament is formed by two mottled green jadeite archaistic bi joined by lot 3020. Another jade hinged twin-bi includes the famous example in the
a rectangular link carved around the sides with C-scrolls, each bi carved in Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Yang Boda and Li Jiu-fang in Chinese
high relief on one side with a chilong, the reverse of one with a dragon and Jades Throughout the Ages - Connoisseurship of Chinese Jades 12 Qing
the reverse of the other with a phoenix. The mount is 14k gold and set with Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1997, pp. 114-5, no. 57, and in Zhongguo meishu fenlei
approximately 120 single and circular cut diamonds, weighing approximately quanji, Zhongguo yuqi quanji - 6 - Qing, Hebei, 1991, p. 171, pls. 250-1. Like the e
3-3.5 carats in total.
Sackler example, the Palace twin-bi features a movable reticulated center and d
3Ω in. (9 cm.) wide is carved on one side with small bosses, but the reverse sides of the Palace
example are carved with a dragon and a phoenix amidst swirling clouds.
$40,000-60,000
The present jadeite example is unusual in being decorated with chilong on both h
sides. On one side the chilong are rendered in high relief and shown with feline e
It is extremely rare to fnd a twin-bi ftting of this type carved from jadeite, heads and moving in and out of mist, while on the reverse they are carved in
as they are more frequently carved from nephrite. The unusual form fnds lower relief and one features a dragon head and the other a phoenix head.
its inspiration in early jade prototypes of the Eastern Zhou period, such as
the jade example from the Winthrop Collection, Harvard Art Museums, In Chinese Jades, London, 2004, p. 26, Ming Wilson notes that novels and
illustrated by M. Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard other literary works from the Ming and Qing periods contain references to
University, 1975, p. 342, no. 507. Such Zhou pieces inspired the production lianhuan (linked rings) which are often described as tokens of admiration
of similar jade carvings in later periods. Ancient jades were enthusiastically or betrothal exchanged between a man and a woman. This interpretation
collected as early as the Song dynasty by scholars who associated them with is reinforced by the characters tongxin lianjie (two hearts joined together)
China’s glorious past and with Confucian virtues. Jade at that time was often inscribed on the joining section of an 18th century pair of jade joined rings in n
carved in archaistic styles, and this interest in archaism continued through the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrated ibid., pl. 27, pl. 23, as well as by
the Ming and into the Qing period, when it may be seem to have reached its the dragon (emperor) and phoenix (empress) imagery on the Beijing Palace
height under the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (reigned 1736-1795). twin-bi and the present jadeite example.
清十八/十九世紀 翠玉雕仿古龍鳳紋帶環

(another view in its setting)

164