Page 118 - 2020 Sept 22 Junkunc_ Chinese Jade Carvings _ Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Junkunc: Chinese Jade Carvings | Sotheby's

familiar archaic designs: a simplified leiwen-inspired scroll and a broad band of vertical ribs.

In response to the ‘vulgarization’ of Chinese jade carving in the 18th century, characterized by decorative objects with ornate high-
relief designs, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned a large number of jades which were inspired by the forms and designs of
antiquity. Jade carvers were encouraged to move away from the ‘new style’ by studying archaic bronze vessels in the Palace
collection or in illustrated woodblock prints and adapting them to the medium of jade. See an archaic bronze you of broader
proportions, similarly cast with a wide band of ribbing between bands of birds, attributed to the early Western Zhou period, from
the Avery Brundage Collection, now in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, published in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual
Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, Washington D.C., 1990, fig. 72.1.

It is rare to find jade vases fashioned with the vertical ribs design; for vessels of related form but carved with various archaistic
motifs, see two in the Palace Museum, Beijing, one with a taotie design, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum. Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 152, and the other with stiff leaves below a bird band, illustrated in Zhongguo
yuqi quanji, vol. 6, Shijiazhuang, pl. 247.

Vertical ribs are found on jade censers from the Ming dynasty; see a gui-form example attributed to the Ming dynasty, in the Qing
Court Collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (II), Hong
Kong, 1995, pl. 182; and another from the Robert Youngman Collection, sold in these rooms, 19th March 2019, lot 227.

本品以高古器形、紋飾為原型，再加以創新，懷古通今，可見時之藝匠創思豐富。本卣紋飾取材自高古青銅器之雷紋及條紋。

鑑於十八世紀玉雕以繁縟為尚，雖精雕細琢，但缺少古韻，乾隆帝令玉匠研究宮中珍藏古代青銅器或木刻印本，仿其神韻，增添新意，創
作玉器。參考一西周初青銅卣，飾鳥紋及相類豎直條紋，現藏於舊金山亞洲藝術博物館，Avery Brundage 收藏，載於傑西卡•羅森，
《Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections》，卷IIB，華盛頓，1990年，圖72.1。

飾相類條紋之玉瓶器頗爲罕見，可參考數器型相近例，但仿古紋飾各異，兩例藏於北京故宮博物院，其一飾饕餮紋，曾展於《故宮博物院
藏文物珍品全集•玉器（下）》，香港，1995 年，圖版152，另一例飾鳥紋及葉紋，圖載於《中國玉器全集》，卷6，石家莊，圖版247。

此類豎直條紋可見於明代玉爐之上。參考一簋式爐例，斷代明，清宮舊藏，現藏北京故宮博物院，載於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集•玉
器（中）》，香港， 1995 年，圖版182；另一例出自楊門收藏，售於紐約蘇富比2019年3月19日，編號227。

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