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Lot Essay
It is very rare to find a white jadeite scabbard so intricately crafted with a matching gilt-bronze handle, which represents a fine example of the high standards of artistic production achieved in the 18th century. Compare a knife of this type with a jade handle and an intricately carved wood scabbard depicting a flowering lotus scroll, formerly in the collection of Dr. Ip Yee, included in the exhibition Bamboo and Wood Carvings of China and the East, Spink and Son Ltd., London, 1979, cat. no. 277, and sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19 November 1984, lot 64; another with jade handle and a carved bamboo scabbard, sold at Christie's New York, 21st September 2004, lot 76; and a pair of slightly smaller knives with carved jade handles and scabbards, sold at Sotheby's London, 7th June 1994, lot 138. A similar gold knife with a white jade handle and inlaid gold sheath was included in the exhibition Splendours of China's Forbidden City, The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 248; and is pictured in situ, no. 250.
The use of personal knives at meals was a mark of Manchu identity. Manchu men were supposed to cut their meat themselves so as to not fall into the decadent Han Chinese habit of eating their meat pre-cut. When eating sacrificial pork, women were also expected to cut up their own meat. It appeared that knives with other associated eating utensils formed part of the dowries of princesses and maidservants, cf. ibid., 2005, pp. 197-201.
The use of personal knives at meals was a mark of Manchu identity. Manchu men were supposed to cut their meat themselves so as to not fall into the decadent Han Chinese habit of eating their meat pre-cut. When eating sacrificial pork, women were also expected to cut up their own meat. It appeared that knives with other associated eating utensils formed part of the dowries of princesses and maidservants, cf. ibid., 2005, pp. 197-201.