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Lot Essay
Yellow jades are the rarest type among all nephrite jades, and it is very rare to find yellow jade vases of the same size and thickness as the current vase. The motif of dragons clambering on an archaistic vase supported on an elaborately carved base is a popular design on 18th century jades. One example is a yellow jade vase decorated with chi dragons climbing up towards the undecorated cover from a base of jagged rocks, in the National Museum of History, Taipei, and illustrated in Jade. Ch'ing Dynasty Treasures, Taipei, 1997, no. 123. Another example is a smaller jade vase similarly carved with chi dragons but without a carved base, in the Beijing Palace Museum and illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol. 6, Qing dynasty, 1991, pl. 241. However none of the above examples have the same complexity of design as the current vase with nine chi dragons including the cover and intricately carved base with waves and lingzhi sprigs, representing the epitome of jade artistry during the 18th century.