A rare white jade 'double happiness' globular marriage bowl and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period | 清乾隆 白玉活環耳仿古夔龍雙囍蓋奩

This piece embodies the brilliant creativity of the Qing craftsmen, which is seen in the combination of archaistic and auspicious motifs with the ingenious transformation of the archaic bronze dou. 

A related example, modelled in a harmonious spherical form but decorated with floral and fruit roundels, also from the De An Tang collection, was sold twice in these rooms, 7th April 2010, lot 1870, and again, 9th April 2024, lot 3692. Another piece with ringed side handles, in the Alan and Simone Hartman collection, is illustrated in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 80; and a slightly larger vessel, but lacking the rings on the knop and decorated with floral and shou medallions, in the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, is published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 196.