Asian Art in London
29 October - 7 November 2009
10. A Pale Celadon Jade Washer
Qianlong period (1736–95) ä£ó≤
The circular jade washer carved as a flaring bowl standing on a slightly recessed base. Further carved with a dragon clambering up one side peering over the rim, between two boys; one dressed as an official and holding a ruyi sceptre, while the other is standing on openwork clouds and wearing regular child’s clothes with a large flaming pearl in his hands. The jade is softly polished and has an even pale celadon tone with some slight striation.
16 cm. wide
Provenance:
Spink & Son, 5 June 1918
Captain A. T. Warre, no. 140
George Francis Warre, CBE
In 1753 the Qianlong Emperor composed a prose entitled Yubeiji (On A Jade Cup). In the it he recounted showing a supposedly antique jade cup decorated with two boys to the lapidary Yao Zongren, who was working in the Imperial jade workshop Ruyiguan. After handling it Yao Zongren told Qianlong that the cup was actually made by his grandfather in Suzhou, and was not as old as it appeared, but had been artificially patinated to deceive. Qianlong recorded in detail Yao’s accounts on the methods employed by jade makers to fake antique pieces. It showed that firstly there was a big market for antique jades in the early Qing period; secondly the practice of faking jades was already rife at least as early as the Kangxi period; and lastly that fake pieces sometimes made their way to the court unsuspected. It also showed that the Qianlong emperor had a thirst for knowledge as well as a real love for antique pieces.
This incident undoubtedly left an impression on Qianlong’s mind, as after he composed the prose he commissioned a lacquer chest and a zitan box to be made for the jade cup (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – Jade Ware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, no. 202, p. 247 – fig. 12). It is very possible that the Qianlong emperor also commissioned the current washer around the same time. However, there is no mistaking the current washer as antique. Its style is typical of the eighteenth century, complimented by extremely skilful carving not to be found in previous periods. The addition of a dragon further enhanced its imperial provenance. Another comparable jade bowl carved with five boys in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in ibid, no. 188, p. 200.
