Details
A FINE WHITE JADE ARCHAISTIC EWER AND COVER
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

The pear-shaped ewer finely carved on each side with a low-relief roundel enclosing a Shou character encircled by stylised, interlocking pairs of chilong and phoenix, below archaistic ruyi around the neck, with a sinuous dragon coiled around the spout to form a strut with the main body, and a long-bodied phoenix with a bifurcated tail forming the handle, the cover with further ruyi motifs and a bud-shaped finial, the stone of an even, semi-translucent white stone with a slight celadon tinge and a few pale russet inclusions
7 1/2 in. (18.3 cm.) high, stand
Provenance
Victor Topper, Toronto
Literature
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 75
Exhibited
Christie's New York, 13-26 March 2001
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, August 2003 - December 2004

Lot Essay

This ewer is based on a 16th-century prototype, such as the example carved with a dragon handle and a floral strut, also from the Hartman Collection, illustrated by Robert Kleiner, op. cit., 1996, no. 52. However, despite the Ming influences, certain elements, like the skilfully carved dragon strut and the sweep of the archaistic chilong motifs, are very much in tune with the elegance and the ornate style of Qing dynasty workmanship.

A number of 18th-century jade ewers are carved with dragon and phoenix spouts and handles. The graceful curve of the bodies and the extra embellishment of feathers and long limbs lend interesting shapes and nuances to an otherwise ordinary form. Cf. two comparable covered ewers in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 6, pls. 2 and 3; and an archaistic guang with a dragon handle, a phoenix head below the spout and low-relief zoomorphic scrollwork on the body that is similar in style to that on the present ewer, illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 136.

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