AN IMPRESSIVE SPINACH JADE VASE (HU) QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

of archaic bronze hu form, the ovoid body rising from a high splayed foot to a gently flared neck, the upper body decorated in shallow relief with two bands of fish, tortoise and duckes contained within raised grooves, all below a narrow scroll band separating another frieze of confronted archaistic dragons, the shoulders set with a pair of mythical beast masks, each suspending a loose ring, a similarly carved animal mask carved in high relief on the mid-body suspending a loose ring, the foot encircled with a rope-twist band (2)

Collection of H. A. E. Jahne, New York.
Collection of Wadsworth R. Lewis, New York.
Sotheby's New York, 2nd April 1943, lot 294.
Collection of John T. Dorrance, Jr., Gladwynne, Pennsylvania.
Sotheby's New York, 21st October 1989, lot 554.

Christie's New York, 13 - 16 March 2001.

Chinese Jades from the Hartman Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, August 2003-December 2004.

Stanley Charles Nott, Chinese Art of World Renown, St. Augustine, 1944, pl. 35, pl. 23.
Stanley Charles Nott, Chinese Culture in the Arts, New York, 1946, p. 53, pl. 18.
Stanley Charles Nott, Voices from the Flowery Kingdom, New York, 1947, p. 64, pl. XL.
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pp. 170-71, no. 135.

There are several tiny nicks to the mouth rim and foot rim. Otherwise in good condition. There is a long fine vertical fissure in the stone which appears on both faces of the vase slightly to right of center.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This impressive vase belongs to a group of monumental jade vessels made under the Qianlong emperor that successfully combined archaic forms and designs with contemporary styles. Craftsmen turned to archaic bronze shapes in response to the Qianlong emperor's fascination with the past and emerged with inspirational designs that were an amalgamation of styles of various ancient periods.

An archaic bronze hu dated to the Warring States period is illustrated in the Xiqing gujian, juan 21: 25a, the catalogue that documents the Qianlong emperor's collection of archaic bronzes (Fig. 1). The stylistic similarities suggest that this archaic bronze hu in the Imperial collection may have served as the inspiration for the present piece. 

The Palace Museum holds another spinach jade vessel whose shape and design are similarly based on a Warring States bronze. While it is similarly decorated with figures and animals in relief, it bears a Qianlong fanggu mark. Compare The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware, Vol. 42, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 187, pl. 153. Yet another related example with a Qianlong fanggu mark, but of much larger proportions and carved from a celadon jade, also in the Palace Museum collection, is published in Zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol. 6, Shijiazhuang, 1993, pl. 191.