A FINELY CARVED WHITE JADE BOWL AND COVER

Details

A FINELY CARVED WHITE JADE BOWL AND COVER
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

The rounded exterior of the bowl is finely carved in shallow relief with cartouches of the four Buddhist emblems including the lotus, vase, twin fish and endless knot, each symbol evenly divided by four bat-shaped handles suspending loose circular rings, all raised on four scroll-shaped feet; the domed shaped cover similarly carved with further four Buddhist emblems of the conch, Wheel of Law, canopy and parasol, alternating with stylised Xi, 'Happiness' roundels, below an elaborate finial, carved in openwork in the form of a double-vajra suspending loose circular rings, the semi-translucent stone of a creamy-white tone
6½ in. (16.5 cm.) diam., stand

Provenance

Sotheby's New York, 16 May, 1990,lot 413

Literature

Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no.78

Exhibited

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

Lot Essay

The Xi, 'Happiness', characters decorating the cover of the bowl suggests that this vessel was most probably made as a wedding gift.

Compare two censers with similarly elaborate loose ring finials in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 6, 1991, nos. 126 and 127.

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