- 855
A RARE JADEITE ARCHAISTIC TRIPOD INCENSE BURNER LATE QING DYNASTY – REPUBLICAN PERIOD
Estimate
500,000 - 700,000 HKD
bidding is closed
Description
- jadeite
of jia form, the globular body carved in low relief with a band of confronted dragons above the three flared feet, the waisted neck flanked by two mask handles of different sizes, the smaller one suspending a loose ring, two high knops on the rim, the mask eyes and knops later set with coral and silver, mounted on a Cartier silver and enamel base with coral inlay, the translucent pale green stone with white mottling
Provenance
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 16th/17th November 1988, lot 332.
Catalogue Note
Regular supplies of jadeite did not occur until the normalisation of previously hostile relations between China and Myanmar in 1784 and it gained immediate popularity within the court. Jadeite was praised for its translucency which gave the impression of being like liquid when highly polished. Furthermore, it was observed that the stone appeared to absorb rather than reflect light, enabling it to almost glow from within. As a slightly harder stone than its nephrite counterpart, craftsmen were able to achieve a greater level of ornamentation, which also complemented the complex natural colourations of the material.
Jadeite vessels in the form of archaic bronze jia are rare, although a jadeite jue fashioned with similar splaying legs and taotie mask, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2012, lot 4276. Compare jade vessels in the form of jia, such as one included in the exhibition Jade as Sculpture, Minnesota Museum of Art, St Paul, 1975, cat. no. 82; one sold in our New York rooms, 20th February 1979, lot 289; another sold in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 3275; and a fourth sold at Christie’s New York, 27th November 1991, lot 171.
The Qianlong Emperor’s own taste and interests have been credited for the third and main wave of archaism, which influenced jade carvers as well as craftsmen working in other media, during most of the 18th and 19th centuries. Ancient bronze vessels served as models for either imitations or more frequently, as in the case of this piece, for adaptations. For a discussion on this archaistic style see James C.S. Lin, The Immortal Stone. Chinese Jades from the Neolithic Period to the Twentieth Century, London, 2009, pp. 87-89.
Jadeite vessels in the form of archaic bronze jia are rare, although a jadeite jue fashioned with similar splaying legs and taotie mask, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2012, lot 4276. Compare jade vessels in the form of jia, such as one included in the exhibition Jade as Sculpture, Minnesota Museum of Art, St Paul, 1975, cat. no. 82; one sold in our New York rooms, 20th February 1979, lot 289; another sold in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 3275; and a fourth sold at Christie’s New York, 27th November 1991, lot 171.
The Qianlong Emperor’s own taste and interests have been credited for the third and main wave of archaism, which influenced jade carvers as well as craftsmen working in other media, during most of the 18th and 19th centuries. Ancient bronze vessels served as models for either imitations or more frequently, as in the case of this piece, for adaptations. For a discussion on this archaistic style see James C.S. Lin, The Immortal Stone. Chinese Jades from the Neolithic Period to the Twentieth Century, London, 2009, pp. 87-89.