A pale green jade cylindrical cup, Song - Ming dynasty

Fritz Low-Beer & Co., New York, 6th April 1950;

Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty, New York, 1963, pl. XXXIX, fig. 2.

Of a richly colored stone, shined to a soft polish by years of treasured ownership, the present cup is a particularly fine example of a rare and important group. Adorned with an affronted pair of dragon and phoenix atop a ground of seed-pearls and geometric clouds, the present cup possesses an ineffable sense of archaic power and whispers of an ancient past.

This much-coveted group of cylindrical tripod cups with a single – usually 'archer’s ring' shaped – handle are notoriously difficult to date. Traditionally these cups have been considered products of the Han dynasty, particularly by virtue of their archaic tripod shape – akin to bronze tong or lian vessels commonly found in Han archaeological contexts. Compare a bronze vessel of this type similarly supported on three small kneeling bears in Archaeological Treasures Excavated in the People's Republic of China, Asahi, 1973, no. 99. In contrast, in his posthumously published book, Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty, New York, 1963, Alfred Salmony illustrates a number of cups of this type, including the present lot, and advocates for a slightly later Wei dynasty (4th to 6th century) attribution; see p. 235 and pls XXXVIII and XXXIX-1 and 2. 

These theories, though somewhat compelling, now seem unlikely in light of recent archaeological findings. The discovery of several similar jade cups in later tomb sites, though perhaps already antique at the time of burial, strongly suggests that this group are archaistic (rather than archaic) in nature. Compare one such cup discovered near Beijing in 1962 in a tomb dated in accordance with 1676, recorded in Wenwu, 1963. vol. 1, no. 42, fig. 18. The Ming attribution of the Beijing cup is further supported by the incised name of Lu Zigang, known to contemporaneous records as a renowned Suzhou jade carver active in the second half of the 16th century. Compare another cup of this design and Lu Zigang mark from the collection Mr and Mrs Richard C. Bull, sold in these rooms, 6th December 1983, lot 219.

A Song or Ming dynasty attribution seems particularly apt in light of the prevailing tradition of antiquarianism attested in these periods. Particularly during the Song dynasty (960-1279) and the reign of Emperor Huizong (1101-1125), China experienced an explosion of interest in the past; the period renowned for its fascination with the material remnants of antiquity. Ancient objects were eagerly collected and studied by collectors as well as the imperial court; a large body of texts and catalogues devoted to documenting and interpreting artifacts from the past were produced and disseminated; and the quest for antiquity generated a wide range of cultural production during the latter part of the Song dynasty. As antiquarianism continued to dominate scholarly life well into the Ming dynasty and beyond, archaic jades and contemporaneous reproductions acquired an almost mythical status, collected by emperors and literati alike.

Compare a similar cup, originally illustrated alongside the present lot in Salmony, op. cit., pl. XXXVIII, and subsequently included in the exhibition Chinese Jades throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1975, cat. no. 322, where it was attributed to the 13th-15th century. The same cup was more recently included in the exhibition 5,000 Years of Chinese Jade, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, 2012, cat. no. 54, where it was described as Song dynasty. Compare also a tripod cup from the collection of Quincy Chuang included in the exhibition Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, cat. no. 140; and another, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Chinese Jades from the Avery Brundage Collection, Tokyo, 1977, pl. XXXVI where it is attributed to the Song to Yuan period. 

A slightly squatter cup, similarly carved with phoenix, but raised on three animal-head feet, is similarly attributed to the Song dynasty, preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Jade Artifacts in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1982, pl. 360; and another now preserved in the Harvard Art Museums is dated simply as ‘Eastern Han or later’ by Max Loehr in Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1975, pl. 625.