A superb white jade 'elephant' vase and cover Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 白玉臥獸鈕雙象耳蓋瓶 《乾隆年製》款

Sotheby's London, 28th May 1963, lot 155.

倫敦蘇富比1963年5月28日，編號155

A Romance with Jade: From the De An Tang Collection, Yongshougong, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004, cat. no. 64.

《玉緣：德安堂藏玉》，永壽宮，故宮博物院，北京，2004年，編號64

The craftsman celebrates tradition through the archaistic shape and choice of decorative motifs while redesigning these elements, as evidenced by its compressed form, ringed elephant handles and recumbent lion knop. The silhouette of the present vase was probably inspired by archaic bronze vessels; see a Western Zhou bronze lei with a pair of animal ring handles and a band of pendent cicada, excavated from Fengxiang, Shaanxi, and included in The Cultural Grandeur of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Taipei, 2012, cat. no. 67.

Compare jade vases similarly flanked by ringed elephant-head handles, such as an 18th-century covered vase with archaistic motifs, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 65.86.99a,b); and a Qianlong mark and period example, from the collection of Sir Quo-Wei Lee, sold in these rooms, 27th November 2019, lot 84. See also a Jiaqing period white jade ovoid example also sold in these rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 3003.

The visual pun for elephant, xiang, together with the vase, ping, refers to taiping you xiang, meaning 'peaceful times'. Further discussion on this topic see Terese Tse Barthomomew, Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, San Francisco, 2006, pp. 237-238.

此瓶器形、紋飾思源吉金，古為今用，藝匠卻精益求精，進而改良瓶式、器耳、蓋鈕，妙添新趣，加上「太平有象」之美意，誠祥瑞佳作。此瓶之線條古樸，應以高古青銅器為範，參考陝西鳳翔縣出土西周中期青銅「對」罍，器肩兩側飾獸耳銜環，腹上綴蟬紋，收錄在《赫赫宗周：西周文化特展》，台北，2012年，編號67。

紐約大都會藝術博物館有藏十八世紀雙象環耳玉蓋瓶，同以仿古紋飾之（藏品編號 65.86.99a,b）。利國偉爵士舊藏一乾隆署款象耳瓶，2019年11月27日在香港蘇富比拍出，編號84。另可參見一嘉慶白玉瓶例，同售於香港蘇富比， 2012年10月9日，編號3003。