Eleven exemplary eighteenth century Chinese Jades

The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF)
12-22 March 2009
Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC)
Forum 100
6229 GV Maastricht
The Netherlands
www.tefaf.com

Preface

It is rare, in today’s frenetic world of Asian Art, to find collectors who are driven to assemble a truly outstanding group of objects such as the jades presented in this catalogue. One cannot underestimate the conviction one needs to maintain the cohesive thread that connects the eleven pieces offered. While it may not have the numbers of other collections, each piece within the group has been chosen to extremely high standards of beauty, craftsmanship, material and rarity. Additionally, most of the pieces have distinguished provenance, coming from well known British and American collections.

This collector has always believed that the most important part of ownership is the ability to study the individual object. The decision to purchase is always preceded by intense examination, research and comparison. It is perhaps for this reason that the pieces seem to have such depth, repaying repeated viewing. In researching the catalogue, it was amazing how many unexpected historical and aesthetic connections could be made. It is perhaps this quality that lends the collection its true greatness, the ability of the individual pieces to broaden our view of Chinese Art as a whole.

All true collectors need to collect, an obsession which can also be an affliction, and having explored this area, the collector feels the need to re-focus and move on. One of the great joys any dealer has is to have the opportunity to work with like-minded collectors and handle great objects.

There has always been the sense of adventure in trying to acquire pieces that fit the collector’s passions, and I am honoured now to be entrusted with the sale of this group.

We look forward to seeing our friends again during TEFAF Maastricht 2009 and we are also delighted to have Ruben Lien join the team of Littleton and Hennessy. Ruben has laid down the foundations for a very bright future in the world of Chinese art with his time with Christies and we trust that his star will continue to grow with us.

James Hennessy
Shanghai
January 2009

Introduction

The Chinese people’s love of jade has existed for at least 8000 years, a relationship unparalleled in human history. From the shadowy hunter-gatherers of Xinglongwa in Inner Mongolia (1), to business magnates of Hong Kong, jade has been prized, worn and collected, not only as a symbol of status and wealth, but because it is so deeply intertwined with the aesthetics, philosophy, religion and history of China.

Many consider the 18th century to be the apogee of Chinese jade. Whereas this is debatable, it can certainly be considered one of the golden ages of jade carving. Certainly in no earlier period was such a variety and quantity of jade objects seen.

Many factors contributed to this florescence. Firstly: the conquest of areas where jade was mined resulted in an unprecedented supply of the material. The Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, had settled border disputes between the Qing court and Imperial Russia and opened trade between the two nations, allowing access to the superb spinach green nephrites of Siberia. The conquest of the Dzungar and Uighar tribes in 1759 brought Xinjiang, where the best nephrite was mined, under direct central control for the first time since the Yuan Dynasty. Finally the pacification of Burma in 1768, resulted in a flow of tribute jadeite jade into the court. Thus by the late 18th century many new and different types of jade had been made available to the Chinese lapidary.

Secondly: many technological innovations in jade carving appeared during this period. Although the foot treadle, with its two directional sawing motion, remained the basic mechanism for carving, the ability to hollow, pierce and carve was greatly enhanced by the use of new and unusually shaped carving heads. There is also evidence that a variety of new abrasives were introduced at this time, including diamond dust which leave characteristic scratches on the surface of jade which can be seen under magnification. Diamond tipped engraving tools, introduced by the western missionaries for copperplate engraving, began to be used for jade, particularly for inscriptions, allowing the direct carving of calligraphy upon the jade surface for the first time.

Thirdly and most importantly, the beginning of the 18th century marked the midpoint of the Kang-Qian Golden age, during which the Qing dynasty reached the zenith of its social, economic and military power. This was a period of increased imperial patronage of the arts, and from the Qianlong period onwards, imperial patronage of jade carving in particular.

It is impossible to summarize the influence that Yinzhen and his son Hongli (who ruled under the reign titles of Yongzheng and Qianlong) had upon imperial art in a few paragraphs, but it is useful to reiterate some well known facts about their individual preferences.

Numerous paintings of antiques and interiors commissioned by Yinzhen both as a prince and Emperor (2) reveal his diverse and refined taste. In different rooms, contemporary objects of exquisite workmanship are combined with carefully mounted and displayed antiques to create an atmosphere of elegant luxury. They reveal a sophisticated ability to harmonize old and new, and east and west.

Building on this foundation, Hongli became an all-encompassing collector who believed that the possession of art gave legitimacy to his rule, and therefore amassed an encyclopaedic group of antique and contemporary art. In particular he had a passion for jade and wrote more than 800 poems and essays about the subject. In these writings the Emperor showed a marked preference for jades following antique models in keeping with his respect for the classical past.

Antique models included both bronzes and paintings. The former were sometimes exactly copied, and sometimes more creatively remodelled. The latter were almost invariably landscapes, which were carved onto boulders, table screens and brushpots.

The themes discussed above are reflected in the 11 pieces of jade presented in this catalogue.

The refined taste of Yongzheng can be seen in the little wine cups, (cat. 5), which were probably made for his personal use. Wine vessels of jade had in the Ming dynasty been restricted to members of the royal family, with lower ranks being allowed vessels of gold and silver.

The plurality of cultural influence in China during this period is seen in the Chinese (cat. 1-4), Mogul style (cat. 6), Central Asian (cat. 9) and Western style (cat. 10) pieces.

Hongli’s taste for archaism can be seen in the jadeite incense burner
(cat. 7) the prototype of which was a bronze ding of the warring states period. However, in the interim, the legs of the ding have shortened, and it has acquired a cover, although the bronze leiwen and taotie mask decoration have been retained. It shows the creative adaptation of an antique form.

The pictorial style of jade carving is seen in cat. 11, perhaps one of the most successful evocations of a painting known in jade. The ability of the lapidary to vary the thickness of the material to imitate the different colours of ink, the technical virtuosity of the details such as the kite string left in relief make it a true masterpiece of Chinese jade art.

1 Yang Hu Liu, Tang Chun, The Origins of Jade in East Asia, Jades of the Xinglongwas culture, Hong Kong 2004
2 The Royal Academy, The Three Emperors pp. 252–255 and 258–261, London 2005.

Exhibition catalogue

• Preface and Introduction

1. A White Jade 'Lingzhi' Washer
   
2. A White Jade ‘Peach’ Box and Cover
   
3. A White Jade 'Persimmon' Box and Cover
   
4. A White Jade 'Persimmon' Washer
   
5. An Exquisite Pair of White Jade Wine Cups
   
6. A Mughal style Pale Celadon Jade ‘Chrysanthemum' Dish
   
7. A Rare Archaistic Jadeite Tripod Censer and Cover
   
8. An Exceptional Large White Jade Vase and Cover
   
9. An Imperial Mottled Grey Jade Bowl
   
10. A Pale Celadon Jade Rococo-Style Vase and Cover
    
11. A White Jade Table Screen.