CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, EPOQUE QIANLONG (1736-1795)

This very distinctively shaped vessel was carved in imitation of an archaic bronze form, which was used to hold artist's materials. Coloured pigments were kept in the tubular compartments at each corner and subdivided by wooden compartments. The central compartment held a saucer and water for mixing the colours. For a discussion of the bronze prototypes, see Cheng Te Kun, 'The T'u-Lu Colour-Container of the Shang-Chou Period', B.M.F.E.A., no. 37, 1965, p. 239-249, pl. 1-6, where examples in jade, marble and pottery are also illustrated. Several examples of this type of jade vessel are published. Compare two of similar form dated to the late Qing dynasty in the Avery Brundage Collection, illustrated by d'Argencé, Chinese Jades in the Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1977, p. 124, pl. LV. See another example in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - III - Jadeware, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 190, no. 156.
Also see a similar tulu from the Leonard Gow Collection, which was sold at Christie's London, 15 May 2012, lot 198 ; another one sold in Christie's Paris, 21-22 June 2016, lot 167.