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PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN ROYAL FAMILY
A MASSIVE IMPERIAL SPINACH-GREEN JADE DISC, BI
This spectacular jade bi and its magnificent bronze stand appear to have been appreciated by royal households in both China and Europe. It is probable that both the jade bi and its bronze stand were made for the Qianlong Emperor (1736-95), while some 300 years later, having been purchased by an important private collector in the mid-20th century, it was gifted to a European royal family in the 1950s. The jade and stand are undoubtedly worthy of display in a palace.
The jade bi is a massive 40.7 cm. in diameter, some 5 cm. thick, and weighs more than 17 kg. Of the six ritual jade forms mentioned in the Zhouli (The Rites of Zhou, probably compiled in the 3rd century BC), the bi disc with central hole seems to have appeared earliest in Chinese material culture, and remained popular to the present day. Jade bi were being made in the Neolithic period (c. 6000- c. 1700), and indeed in the Liangzhu culture, which flourished in eastern China between 3000 and 2000 BC, the bi and the cong appear most frequently in tombs. Two sections in the Zhouli provide particular information on jade bi. One section contains an instruction to 'Use jade to make six auspicious [objects], to rank the various states', noting that: 'The fourth-ranking noble holds the gu bi; The fifth-ranking noble holds the pu bi' (translated by Ming Wilson in Chinese Jades, London, 2004, p. 10). Another section contains the instruction to 'Use jade to make six [ritual] objects, to sacrifice to Heaven, Earth and the Four Directions', noting 'A blue bi to sacrifice to Heaven' (ibid.). While the ritual use of jade bi was revived in a number of periods, over centuries its ritual importance diminished and in the Qing dynasty both antique and contemporary bi were often used for decorative purposes.
In the reign of the Qianlong Emperor jade carving received new impetus both in terms of imperial patronage and also in the availability of jade material. The Qianlong Emperor's passionate interest in jade was expressed in a variety of ways, including that approximately 800 of his poems took jade as their subject, whether commenting on their aesthetic qualities or aspects of their manufacture. Not only did he take a personal interest in the jades produced in the imperial ateliers, but also in the sources of jade stone. He was especially concerned with jade from Xinjiang province and several of his poems mention the Hetian jade from the Kunlun Mountains in Xinjiang. After it was quarried, this jade had to travel some 3,000 miles from Xinjiang to Beijing - a journey that could take up to three years. Sources of this Xinjiang jade were made more secure by Qianlong's military campaigns in the areas during 1759 and 1760, and it has been estimated that from 1760 to the end of his reign an average of about 2,000 kg. of jade were received by the court each year.
Jade items of the size of the current jade bi are very rare, not only because of the scarcity of raw jade boulders of a size that would allow such a large items to be made, but also because of the time it would take to work the stone. Interestingly, although still extremely labour-intensive and slow, the making of large items such as this bi benefitted in the 1760s from the introduction of steel. Saws made of steel could significantly reduce the amount of time taken to cut through a large jade boulder. In discussion of a large jade vessel the Qianlong Emperor himself commented that: 'If abrasive sand and stone tools had been used, it would have taken twenty years to finish it. One person experimented with steel saws and shortened the grinding process by fourteen years.' (Asian Art Museum San Francisco, Later Chinese Jades - Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century From the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2007, p. 23).
The large bronze stand made for the jade bi is exceptionally well cast and depicts two powerful five-clawed dragons writhing through ruyi-shaped clouds to confront each other across a mountain which rises out of turbulent waves. It seems possible that this stand was inspired by bronze dragon and cloud stand holding the huge armillary sphere, which can still be seen at the Beijing Observatory, made by the Jesuit missionary Ferdinand Verbiest for Qianlong's grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722) in 1673. This was one of six large astronomical instruments made for the emperor by Verbiest after Kangxi re-examined the trumped up charges that had resulted in Verbiest and his fellow missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell being imprisoned. The charges were dropped and Verbiest was reinstated to the Board of Astronomy. The armillary sphere is illustrated by Wan Yi, Wang Shuqing and Lu Yanzhen (compilers), translated by Rosemary Scott and Erica Shipley Daily Life in the Forbidden City- The Qing Dynasty 1644-1912, Harmondsworth, 1988, p. 68, pl. 95.
It is also possible to see links between the depiction of powerful five-clawed dragons with waves and ruyi-shaped clouds on this bronze stand and the pair of large imperial Qianlong cloisonn dragons with ruyi clouds and gilt bronze wave-form stands (sold by Christie's New York in October 2004, lot 452), which were included in the important exhibition China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005-2006, exhibit no. 9. It is additionally noteworthy that imperial interest in large bronze imperial dragons continued into the latter years of the Qing dynasty. When the Palace of Gathering Excellence was refurbished in 1884 for the celebration of the 50th birthday of the Empress Dowager Cixi, at a cost of 630,000 taels of silver, two large bronze dragons on stands depicting turbulent waves, with mountains rising from them on each of the four sides, were placed in front of the building. These remain in place today and are illustrated by Yu Zhouyun in Palaces of the Forbidden City, New York, 1984, p. 98, pls. 86 and 87.
A MASSIVE IMPERIAL SPINACH-GREEN JADE DISC, BI
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
Details
A MASSIVE IMPERIAL SPINACH-GREEN JADE DISC, BI
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The disc is finely carved from a substantial jade boulder, with thick walls and finished to an attractive soft polish. The stone is of a dark green tone with lighter inclusions. The disc is supported on a finely cast stand consisting of two powerful writhing dragons amidst clouds.
The disc 16 in. (40.7 cm.) diam.
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The disc is finely carved from a substantial jade boulder, with thick walls and finished to an attractive soft polish. The stone is of a dark green tone with lighter inclusions. The disc is supported on a finely cast stand consisting of two powerful writhing dragons amidst clouds.
The disc 16 in. (40.7 cm.) diam.
Provenance
An English private collection
With Spink & Son Ltd., London in the 1950s
Acquired by an important European private collector and gifted to a European royal family in the late 1950s
Thence by descent
With Spink & Son Ltd., London in the 1950s
Acquired by an important European private collector and gifted to a European royal family in the late 1950s
Thence by descent
Brought to you by
Ivy Chan
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