A SUPERB WHITE JADE BOWL AND COVER

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

Details

A SUPERB WHITE JADE BOWL AND COVER
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

The bowl of compressed rounded sides, finely carved in shallow relief with a band of linked C-scrolls above a low ring foot, below a band of ruyi-heads on the narrow shoulder and stylised overlapping ruyi motifs on the splayed neck before an everted mouth rim formed by further ruyi-heads, the domed cover similarly decorated, surmounted by a finial carved on the upper surface with a stylised Shou character surrounded by five bats in flight, the periphery integrally carved with four evenly spaced ruyi-heads, each with the character, Xi, 'Happiness', above a loop forming the handle suspending a loose ring, the well polished translucent stone of even white tone
5 7/8 in. (15 cm.) wide, box

Lot Essay

The Xi characters on the finial indicate that the present covered bowl may have been a special commission for a wedding celebration. A similar example, the body carved in shallow relief with four medallions, each with a character forming the auspicious phrase Jixiang Ruyi, is in the Palace Museum collection, Beijing, illustrated by Yang Boda, see Guyu Jingcui, Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, no. 129; and again, Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 241, no. 197. It has been mentioned that many covered bowls of this type, made of wood and inset with jade carvings, were used by Qing court ladies as cosmetic boxes.

More from Important Chinese Works of Art (Part II)

View All