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Lot Essay
When the Mughal jade artifacts flowed into the Qing court, they quickly became a favourite of the Qianlong emperor. He frequently inscribed his own poems onto these Mughal jade pieces to celebrate his remarkable military achievements. According to Deng Shuping, art historian and a former curator at the National Palace Museum, Taipei, there are approximately fourty-one Mughal jade pieces inscribed with poems composed by Qianlong, see Treasures from Across the Kunlun Mountains- Islamic Jades in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 2015, p.36.
The present jade flasks appear to have been crafted from a single piece of jade and are carved with an imperial poem by Qianlong, celebrating his skill in deer hunting. The poem is included in Qinggaozong yuzhishi, part 5, vol.92 (fig. 1). Qianlong maintained a lifelong passion for hunting, which also helped strengthen the ties with Mongolian nobility. He repeatedly used the huazhunshen gun and jiuzhunshen gun, which enabled him to hit the target with perfect accuracy every time. See the painting Portrait of Qianlong Hunting Deer, housed in the Palace Museum, Beijing, which vividly depicts Qianlong using a gun to hunt deer (fig. 2). According to huangchao liqi tushi, because the two guns required different amounts of gunpowder, the present pair of jade powder flasks are slightly different in size (fig. 3 and fig. 4).
The fire guns used by Qianlong could be classified into two categories: imperial-used guns, and imperial-made guns. There are seven types of the former, while the latter consist of only four types: the jiushen gun, the huashen gun, the dazhun gun, and the hushen gun. The present powder flasks are likely associated with the first two.
Inspired by original models crafted from natural horns, jade examples are rarer. Compare with a greyish jade example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, collection number: 359.34, illustrated in Hindustan Jade in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1983, pp.264-265, no.70 (fig. 5.1). The flask is accompanied by two yellow labels, indicating that it was produced during the Qianlong period (fig. 5.2); and a gemstone-inlaid jade powder flask housed in the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number: gu00094163, and illustrated in Selected Mughal Jades from the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2015, pp.188-189, no.38 (fig. 6).
The present jade flasks appear to have been crafted from a single piece of jade and are carved with an imperial poem by Qianlong, celebrating his skill in deer hunting. The poem is included in Qinggaozong yuzhishi, part 5, vol.92 (fig. 1). Qianlong maintained a lifelong passion for hunting, which also helped strengthen the ties with Mongolian nobility. He repeatedly used the huazhunshen gun and jiuzhunshen gun, which enabled him to hit the target with perfect accuracy every time. See the painting Portrait of Qianlong Hunting Deer, housed in the Palace Museum, Beijing, which vividly depicts Qianlong using a gun to hunt deer (fig. 2). According to huangchao liqi tushi, because the two guns required different amounts of gunpowder, the present pair of jade powder flasks are slightly different in size (fig. 3 and fig. 4).
The fire guns used by Qianlong could be classified into two categories: imperial-used guns, and imperial-made guns. There are seven types of the former, while the latter consist of only four types: the jiushen gun, the huashen gun, the dazhun gun, and the hushen gun. The present powder flasks are likely associated with the first two.
Inspired by original models crafted from natural horns, jade examples are rarer. Compare with a greyish jade example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, collection number: 359.34, illustrated in Hindustan Jade in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1983, pp.264-265, no.70 (fig. 5.1). The flask is accompanied by two yellow labels, indicating that it was produced during the Qianlong period (fig. 5.2); and a gemstone-inlaid jade powder flask housed in the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number: gu00094163, and illustrated in Selected Mughal Jades from the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2015, pp.188-189, no.38 (fig. 6).