A very rare imperial inscribed pale celadon jade 'prunus' vase with original zitan stand, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period | 清乾隆 御製青白玉詠梅御題詩太平有象瓶 《乾隆御題》款 原配紫檀鏤雕松竹紋座

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 31st October 2004, lot 239.

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2010, lot 1835.

香港蘇富比2004年10月31日，編號239

香港蘇富比2010年4月8日，編號1835

The style of the carving on the present vase is closely related to two superb white jade vases in the Palace Museum, Beijing, both carved with prunus branches extending over the body, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jades], vol. 6, Shijazhuang, 1993, pls 237 and 238. The crispness of the blossoms and the branches on the two vases resembles the carving of this vase so closely that one may assume that these were all produced in the Palace workshops at around the same time.

It is extremely rare to find jade vases inscribed with imperial poems during the Qing dynasty. There appears to be only very few examples recorded. See an archaistic vase following an ancient bronze hu form with a poem carved on the body in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated ibid., pl. 198. The poem on the vase is dated Qianlong bingwu (1786) and the clerical style of the script on that vase resembles closely the calligraphy on the present vase. Another jade archaistic vase but carved out of spinach jade in the Hartman Collection, illustrated in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 136, also inscribed with a poem, but is dated Qianlong dingwei (1787). The elephant-handles which flank the vase also appear to be a late Qianlong innovation which continued into the early Jiaqing period, see for example a famille-rose vase sold in these rooms, 30th October 2002, lot 269.

It is also very rare to find an imperial jade vase with its original zitan stand from private collections. With the vase placed atop the stand, the bamboo and pine branches can be seen emerging from the rockwork, completing with the prunus the ‘Three Friends of Winter’. This stand would have been manufactured within a specific department in the zaobanchu or Imperial Palace Workshop, which only produces stands for the court. Similar zitan stands made for jade carvings can be found in the Palace Museum Beijing, see for example a jade group and a carnelian group illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji, op.cit., pls 138 and 142.

御題詩：

「玉梅標格稱仙妝。頭蹋春風領眾芳。設使東皇編甲第。南枝合作探花郎。」

玉質青白色，純淨溫潤。器為仿古造型，扁方體，撇口，瓶身兩側有象耳，腹部橢圓，長方足，瓶身旁作一山石，山石中伸出一樁梅花，梅枝沿瓶身下方延伸，枝上花朵盛開，似乎將二維繪畫藝術及精湛的三維雕工融為一體，表現出雅致的文人情懷。北京故宮博物院藏有兩件蓋瓶，均以梅花為主題雕刻，但無御題詩，見《中國玉器全集》，卷6，石家莊，1993年，圖版237及238。其梅樁及花朵的雕刻手法類似，或為期清宮造辦處同時期所製。

清宮玉雕中在花瓶上鐫御題詩的例子非常少見，北京故宮博物院清宮舊藏一件清乾隆青玉御題詩方壺，同上註，圖版198。以隸書刻御題詩九十八字，落款時間為丙午（1786年），其書字風格與本器御題詩類似。另見哈特曼伉儷收藏一件清乾隆碧玉仿古瓶，御題詩落款時間為丁未（1787年），收錄在 Robert Kleiner，《Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman》，香港，1996年，圖版136。此瓶兩側象耳，於乾隆中晚期至嘉慶時期官窰瓷器中皆有所見，如香港蘇富比曾售出一例，2002年10月30日，編號269。

傳世品及私人收藏中，極少可見配有原裝木作的宮廷玉雕。此瓶紫檀座雕松及竹，置花瓶於座上便組成松、竹、梅之「歲寒三友」。此類紫檀座，大部分由清宮造辦處木作為清宮器具專門配置而作。北京故宮博物院清宮舊藏玉雕中，亦見專為玉雕而配的紫檀木作，見《中國玉器全集》，前述出處，圖版138及142。