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10. A Pale Celadon Jade Rococo-Style Vase and Cover
Qianlong period (1736–95)
The vase is of baluster shape and rectangular section standing on a spreading foot. Its waisted neck is flanked by two ‘S’-scroll handles. The main decoration on the body on the front and back is a stylised floral design carved in shallow relief within oval panels. The domed cover is surmounted by a lotus bud finial. The well polished stone has an pale green tone with an area of opaque inclusions cleverly incorporated in the decoration.
20.5 cm. (8 in.) high
Provenance: Lady June Horlick Collection
Since the late Ming, Chinese Emperors used Catholic Missionaries in China as a window to Western Science and Culture. The many artistically talented missionaries who served the Emperors resulted in a gradual diffusion of Western ideals into Chinese Imperial art. However, it was only with the Qianlong Emperor’s construction of the Western Palaces in the Yuan Ming Yuan or Summer Palace after 1747 that entire European Style environments were created in China.
Although there are no records of the interiors of these Palaces, it would not be surprising if the many Rococo style Chinese pieces seen in Museums and collections today, originated from furnishings originally used there. A large zitan table (18) whose pair is now in the Diao Yu Tai state guesthouse in Beijing is thought by Tian Jiaqing to have been from the Summer Palace.
Although western style jades are hardly known, the scrolling handles, shape and the decoration of this vase are clearly inspired by the French Rococo style. The low relief pearl headed tendrils on the flowers in the central panel are almost identical to those seen on the pair of tables mentioned above, while a falangcai pear-shaped vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing (19), also has very similar Rococo-inspired decoration. However, the moulding above the foot, the shape of the cover and the knob suggest that the Chinese lapidaries were influenced by classical Greek and Roman vases which were coming into fashion from around 1770 onwards. Thus it would not be far-fetched to conclude that this covered vase was made to furnish Qianlong’s Western Palaces.
(Destiny with Zitan)
18 Illustrated by Tian Jiaqing in Destiny with Zitan, Wenwu Chubanshe, Beijing, p. 34, no. 6
19 illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 39 – Porcelains with cloisonné enamel decoration and famille rose decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 41, no. 34.
Next: (11) A White Jade Table Screen
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