A FINE WHITE JADE CUP

Details

A FINE WHITE JADE CUP
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

The bowl-shaped receptacle carved as a stylised lotus bud composed of upright overlapping petals, supported on a slender stem with a foliate collar and spreading base encircled by further overlapping petals, with a seed pod carved on the interior of the bowl, the translucent stone of even white tones
3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm.) high, stand

Provenance

John T. Dorrance Jr., Gladwynne, Pennsylvania

Literature

Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 156

Exhibited

Christie's New York, 13-26 March 2001
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, August 2003 - December 2004

Lot Essay

It is not certain what this vessel was used for, and it has been suggested that it might have been a lamp. Compare the present lot to a pair of spinach-green jade lamps in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 6, no. 64.

The thinness of the walls and the angular style of the lotus petals on the present lamp owe their inspiration to the decoration found on Mughal jades which the Qianlong emperor admired. See for a comparison, the grey Mughal jade zhadou with overlapping petals on the rounded lower body, illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 243.

More from Important Chinese Jades from the Personal Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman

View All