A WHITE JADE ARCHAISTIC 'ROPE' CENSER AND COVER QING DYNASTY, LATE 19TH / EARLY 20TH CENTURY

carved in the form of an archaic vessel fangding, the slightly tapered rectangular body supported on four mythical-beast heads projecting baluster legs formed of angular scrollwork, rising to a square-cut rim interrupted by two pierced ruyi-shaped handles formed from knotted ropes, all finely decorated along the edges and vertically across the sides with twisted double ropes interlinking through running knots in the centre, the handles picked-out with bosses resembling rivets, the tapered domed cover similarly edged with interlinked ropes and surmounted by an openwork dragon finial, the base of the censer carved in relief with a four-character apocryphal Qianlong seal mark, the translucent stone of even celadon-white colour with icy mottling and finished to a smooth polish, wood stand

Christie's Hong Kong, 29th November 2005, lot 1652.

There are some minor bruises to the interior rim of the cover. There are a couple of tiny nicks to the rim of the censer. Otherwise the censer and cover are in overall good condition.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The carved decoration found on this censer, which simulates interlocking twisted rope, was a standard decorative motif of the Palace Workshops during the Qianlong period. The concept is derived from archaic bronze decoration; for example see a bronze ling of the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC), published in The Imperial Packing Art of the Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2000, pl. 2, where the design formed by intertwining two-strand cords are so vivid that the vessel appears to be wrapped up by them. See also a bronze hu of the Warring States period (475-221 BC), from the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated ibid., pl. 7, where the body is decorated with the rope pattern while its base features a circle of thick cord motif after contemporary cord packaging.

Compare another white jade censer of this type, from the Su Lin An collection, sold in these rooms 31st October 1995, lot 330. For spinach jade examples of related forms, similarly carved with a twisted rope decoration and an apocryphal Qianlong mark on the underside, see two censers sold respectively in our New York rooms 17th October 1974, lot 200, and in these rooms, 4th November 1997, lot 1281. A further spinach-green jade fang ding decorated with a rope design was sold in our New York rooms, 30^th September 1972, lot 118, and again at Christie’s New York, 23^rd March 2012, lot 1822.

For examples of Qianlong period Imperial jade wares with the rope design, see a hu-form jade vase from the collection of the Palace Museum, included in Chinese Jades Throughout the Ages – Connoisseurship of Chinese Jades, vol. 12, Hong Kong, 1997, pl. 38, where it is mentioned that the vase was made in the Qianlong period when copying ancient bronze vessels in jade was especially popular; and a water vessel, from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat collection, sold in our London rooms, 20^th June 2001, lot 110, and again in these rooms, 8^th October 2009, lot 1804.

A fang ding with rim loop handles and dragon-form legs, the cover surmounted by a dragon knop, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the museum’s exhibition The Refined Taste of the Emperor. Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch’ing Court, Taipei, 1997, cat. no. 2.