A fine and rare white jade rectangular censer and cover Qing dynasty, 18th / 19th century

of rectangular form with rounded corners, supported on four tapered cylindrical legs, finely carved with a keyfret border at the rim and a band of intertwined snakes above confronting archaistic dragons flanked by shou characters, all between two stylized monster-mask handles securing loose rings, the legs further carved with keyfret bands suspending pendant leaves, the cover of conforming shape with a writhing qilong at each corner centered by a coiled dragon knop, the stone of pale celadon-white tone with faint russet and white inclusions (2)

Sotheby's New York, 25th February 1983, lot 231.

A similar white jade example also carved with dragons and longevity characters can be found in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and is illustrated in Chuimei Ho ad Bennet Bronson, Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, Chicago, 2004, fig. 309, p. 243.  Two further examples include one illustrated in René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé, Chinese Jades in the Avery Brundage Collection, Japan, 1972, pl. LV, p.125; and another in the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, illustrated in Charles Q. Mason, Spinach Green and Mutton-fat White. Chinese Jades of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Gainesville, Florida, 2006, p. 31.  Compare also a closely related spinach jade censer and cover from the collection of Sir John Buchanan-Jardine, illustrated in A Romance with Jade from the De An Tang Collection, Hong Kong, 2004, no. 117, where the author notes that this type of burner with four tubes was popular in the Qing courts, particularly during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns.