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拍品专文
This delicately carved lidded jar is a fine example of the hardstone carvings that were popular in the Mughal period, from the reign of the Emperor Akbar. It is thought that nephrite and related hardstones were introduced to the Mughals in the mid-sixteenth century when a Khotanese jade merchant ‘visited the Emperor Akbar’s court and enabled the Mughals to indulge a taste for jade already acquired by their Timurid ancestors in Central Asia’ (Joseph M. Dye III, The Arts of India, Virginia, 2001, p.408). The production of Mughal jade carvings flourished under the patronage of Jahangir (r.1605-1628). He actively collected fifteenth century Timurid and Chinese metal and ceramic vessels inscribing them with his titles and poetic verses. The jade wine cups produced early in his reign often imitated these earlier forms. Floral and vegetal forms in jade carving began to appear later in his reign after his visit to the lush green valleys of Kashmir in 1620. Mughal jades reached their full artistic potential under Emperor Shah Jahan (r.1628-58) with artisans continuing to use floral imagery and Mughal jades displaying a more delicate manner of execution and a greater sophistication of technique.
A comparable dark green lidded jar of rounded form with engraved bands of leaves and bud-shaped handles, dating from circa 1675, is in the British Library (inv. no. 1945, 1017.258.a-b). The serrated leaves to the sides of our jar rising to form handles can also be compared with a spinach green jade bowl produced during the reign of Shah Jahan, probably dating from circa 1640-50, now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.76.2.2.; Stephen Markel (ed.), The World of Jade, Mumbai, 1992, no.11, p.57). A pale green carved jade bowl of similar form with lug handles is in the Al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait (Keene, 2002, no.9.18, p.117). Another close comparable is a pale green nephrite jade lidded pot of rounded form, engraved with flowers and leaves in low relief, with similar flower-bud handles and circular lid with bud-shaped finial. The pot, dated to circa 1800, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (acc. no. 02560:1/(IS) and 02560:2/(IS)).
A comparable dark green lidded jar of rounded form with engraved bands of leaves and bud-shaped handles, dating from circa 1675, is in the British Library (inv. no. 1945, 1017.258.a-b). The serrated leaves to the sides of our jar rising to form handles can also be compared with a spinach green jade bowl produced during the reign of Shah Jahan, probably dating from circa 1640-50, now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.76.2.2.; Stephen Markel (ed.), The World of Jade, Mumbai, 1992, no.11, p.57). A pale green carved jade bowl of similar form with lug handles is in the Al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait (Keene, 2002, no.9.18, p.117). Another close comparable is a pale green nephrite jade lidded pot of rounded form, engraved with flowers and leaves in low relief, with similar flower-bud handles and circular lid with bud-shaped finial. The pot, dated to circa 1800, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (acc. no. 02560:1/(IS) and 02560:2/(IS)).