A set of six white jade openwork belt plaques, Ming dynasty

Collection of the Marquis and Marquise de Ganay, Courances, France.

Ninety Jades for 90 Years, Marchant, London, 2015, cat. no. 21.

The Ming imperial court is renowned for its spellbinding jade plaques. Mandated by the imperial costume regulations of 1383 and 1393, the Ming emperors and their entourage, starting with Hongwu, were known to wear jade belts – usually made up of twenty jade plaques – carved in fine openwork with dragons, animals and other auspicious motifs. Compare a complete set of twenty closely related openwork belt plaques carved with dragons and shou characters, including six peach-shaped plaques, attributed to the Ming dynasty, treasured and boxed by the Qianlong Emperor, and illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Jade, vol. 6: Ming Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl. 158, where the author illustrates other complete sets, pls 152 & 157, and another unadorned set in white jade, pl. 163. The author also illustrates an oval openwork plaque with similar bird and flower, pl. 168. 

Compare also another set of twenty including six peach-shape plaques, backed with gold foil and fixed to an original leather belt wrapped in dark blue silk, included in Translucent World. Chinese Jade from the Forbidden City, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2007, cat. no. 96; and another almost complete set of sixteen openwork belt plaques carved with deer, including four of this peach shape, published in Jade from the Hei-Chi Collection, Beijing, 2006, pp 182-185, later sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2010, lot 2030.