A white jade archaistic ‘kui-phoenix’ pouring vessel and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period | 清乾隆 白玉鳳紋仿古三環蓋壺

The form of the present jade vessel derived from archaic ritual bronze pouring vessel of similar shape dating to the Zhou dynasty. See for example a very similarly shaped bronze Hu vessel, dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty, formerly in the Arthur M. Sackler collection in the Smithsonian Institute, illustrated in Jenny So, Eastern Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York, 1995, p. 236, no. 39. Encouraged by the Qianlong Emperor's passion for the Antique, Qing craftsmen began to look at the past for inspiration and adapt the forms and designs of archaic jades and bronzes into their pieces. This vessel belongs to a renowned group of large archaistic white jades commissioned by the Qing court from the Qianlong period, several of them are still preserved in the Palace Museum Beijing, see two examples illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, nos 136 and 143.