A rare pair of white jade bowls, Marks and period of Qianlong

English Private Collection.

Carved from pure ice-like stone with exceptional skill, the present pair of bowls reflect the heights of lapidary craftsmanship under the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. While more florid carved designs from this period were often added as decoration to distract from original flaws in the stone, plain elegant vessels of this type celebrate the brilliant quality of the base material itself. The shape of these bowls, with their superbly flared rounded sides and straight rims, are typical of the late Qianlong period. 

Compare a related pair of white jade bowls with a similar four character mark, illustrated in Huang Kuang-Nan, Jade. Ch’ing Dynasty Treasures from the National Museum of History, Taiwan, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 192; another pair with Qianlong seal marks from the Andrew K. F. Lee Collection, included in Virtuous Treasures Chinese Jades for the Scholar’s Table, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2008, cat. no. 31; and another pair sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 30th May 2017, lot 115.