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Lot Essay
This pair of white jade bowls was passed down through the family from the grandfather, Fred R. Sanford. Another piece from this distinguished collection, a spectacular white jade teapot of 18th century date, was previously sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2000, lot 136. This teapot, along with the present pair of bowls, is illustrated on the original 1959 invoice from Y. Tsuruki, Tokyo, Japan. (Fig. 1)
The current pair of bowls appears to have been carved from the same piece of stone. For a pair of similar bowls, of smaller size (14.5 cm.), also dated 18th century, and shown raised on equally elaborate wood stands, previously in the collection of Ip Yee, and now in the Sir Joseph Hotung Collection, British Museum, see J. Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 400, no. 29:13, where the author suggests that undecorated jade vessels made in the shape of porcelain prototypes “probably represented the highest quality of eating and drinking utensils.” And goes on to say that “many such bowls were, indeed, probably made for the palace and the court.” The undecorated surface of these pieces allowed for the full appreciation of the purity of the stone.
The current pair of bowls appears to have been carved from the same piece of stone. For a pair of similar bowls, of smaller size (14.5 cm.), also dated 18th century, and shown raised on equally elaborate wood stands, previously in the collection of Ip Yee, and now in the Sir Joseph Hotung Collection, British Museum, see J. Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 400, no. 29:13, where the author suggests that undecorated jade vessels made in the shape of porcelain prototypes “probably represented the highest quality of eating and drinking utensils.” And goes on to say that “many such bowls were, indeed, probably made for the palace and the court.” The undecorated surface of these pieces allowed for the full appreciation of the purity of the stone.