A rare large pale celadon jade archaistic ewer and cover, Fanggu mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 青白玉仿古活環龍鳳紋奩連蓋 《乾隆仿古》款

Hotel Drouot, Paris, 26th/27th April 1971, lot 396.

Collection of Dr Wou Kiuan (1910-1997). 

Wou Lien-Pai Museum, 1971-present, coll. no. Q.5.25.

德魯奧拍賣中心，巴黎，1971年4月26/27日，編號396

吳權博士 (1910-1997) 收藏

吳蓮伯博物院，1971年至今，編號Q.5.25

Cabinet Portier 100 ans: 1909-2009, Paris, 2010, pl. 279.

《Cabinet Portier 100 ans: 1909》，Cabinet Portier，巴黎，2010年，編號279

Linking the Past to the Present

It is very rare to find a jade vessel of this unusual form. As the inscription 'Qianlong fang gu' incised on the base of this vessel suggests, it was made 'in imitation of antiquity' (fang gu). It belongs to a special group of jade wares that were consciously carved in archaistic style during the Qianlong period (1736-95), an aesthetic which the Emperor eagerly promoted in his reign.

The form of the present piece, for example, might have loosely taken the archaic bronze vessel lian (vessels for warming wine) as a model. Tall, cylindrical vessels standing on tiny feet appeared at least from the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 256BC). They may originally have been made in wood, but by the Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) vessels of this shape were mostly made in bronze - a material that allowed them to survive through time. Compare a bronze lian with a plain exterior and three small supports, from the late Eastern Zhou or early Han dynasty, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, The Bella and P.P. Chiu Collection of Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1988, pl. 37 and sold in these rooms, 7th June 2000, lot 15.

The workmanship and creativity of the Qianlong carvers was demonstrated by the multiple suspended loose rings on the cover and the handles - a decorative element popular in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Similarly elaborate loose ring finials, for example, can be found on two smaller white jade vessels, the form resembling a bowl with cover, the exterior carved with auspicious symbols in low relief, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pls 197-8, where they are also called lian and described as dressing cases used by women at the time.

Flanking the vessel are a dragon and phoenix, which are considered two of the most auspicious mythical animals in China. Together they represent good fortune and blessings for the emperor and empress (longfeng chengxiang). Similar motifs can be seen on two lidded jade vessels of different shapes, both of Qianlong mark and period and carved with dragon and phoenix in high relief, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, accession nos gu-103586 and 102515.

With the Qing court capturing the jade-rich region in western China in the mid-18th century, there was an increased supply of jade, so that sizeable boulders became available for making large vessels such as the present piece. A similarly sized Qianlong fang gu jade vessel, in the form of the archaic bronze fang hu, flanked by a pair of handles with suspended rings, carved with a pair of phoenixes in low relief on each side, preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, accession no. gu-yu-2169, was included in the Museum's exhibition The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic & Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, cat. no. 25.

古韻猶存

本品器型獨特，極爲鮮見。乾隆帝好古慕雅，在位期間積極發展仿古美學，本品出自一組仿古玉器。

本品器型或啓發自高古奩，該器始自東周或更早時期，器呈圓筒狀，高身，小足，用以暖酒，最早或為木製，至漢朝發展成銅器，因而更堅固耐用。比較一銅奩例，器身光素無紋飾，三足，東周或漢初，圖載Jessica Rawson，《The Bella and P.P. Chiu Collection of Ancient Chinese Bronzes》，香港，1988年，圖版37，售於倫敦蘇富比2000 年 6 月 7 日，編號 15。

本器活環巧奪天工，彰顯乾隆年間宮廷藝匠技術精湛，創思層出。活環設計，流行於清代。北京故宮博物院珍藏兩白玉奩例，尺寸較小，器身雕刻紋飾寓意吉祥，圖載《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：玉器（下）》，香港，1995年，圖版197-8。

本器器身兩側飾龍鳳紋，寓意龍鳳呈祥。比較北京故宮博物院收藏兩玉雕連蓋作例，乾隆年器並款，雕龍鳳紋（藏品編號gu-103586和102515）。

18世紀中葉，清軍平定西域，玉材源源而增，工匠應材施藝，雕成如本品尺寸龐大之玉器。比較一例，器形仿青銅方壺，壺耳帶活環，正反兩面淺浮雕雙鳳紋，現存於台北故宮博物院（藏品編號gu-yu-2169），曾展於《宮廷之雅：清代仿古及畫意玉器特展圖錄》，台北，1997年，編號25。