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7. A Rare Archaistic Jadeite Tripod Censer and Cover
Late Qianlong period
The censer is carved with two lion mask ‘C’-scroll handles suspending loose rings and standing on three semi-globular legs. It is decorated on the front and back with two rectangular panels of taotie designs on leiwen ground. The cover is pierced with five quatrefoil apertures amidst archaistic designs, and surmounted by a coiled dragon finial. The icily translucent mottled lavender tone with areas of bright emerald-green inclusions and a somewhat uneven glassy polish.
16 cm. (6 1/4 in.) wide
Provenance: Hall Collection, Oxford
Exhibited: Exhibition of Chinese Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1915
The appearance of jadeite from the mines of Moguang in the court of Qianlong after the conclusion of the campaign against Burma in 1768 was not especially remarked upon. In fact Yang Boda identifies one imperially inscribed jadeite piece, in which the emperor not only failed to recognise jadeite as a separate material, but also concluded it had come from Khotan (10).
Yang also comments that only small amounts of jadeite entered China during this period, and notes that it seems to have been limited to a snowy translucent white or brilliant green material (11). However, a Qianlong marked jadeite cong vase from the National Palace Museum, Taipei (12), is predominantly icy lavender in colour accentuated with splashes of bright emerald green, the material remarkably similar to the censer in this collection.
The style and workmanship of the current vessel also allows an attribution to the late Qianlong period. The confusion between the two materials of this time is reflected in the uneven glassy polish and cruder detailing of the piece. This resulted from the use of abrasives and tools used to carve nephrite on the slightly harder jadeite material.
The limitations of the existing carving tools and unusual colouration of the new material may have discouraged some workers, but the Qing lapidary was able to turn these shortcomings into assets. Choosing an ancient bronze model, the uneven surface recalls the eroded metal, while the brightly contrasting colour inclusions resembles the red and green bronze patination so admired by connoisseurs of the antique.
(The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch’ing Court, 1997, 116-117)
10 Yang Boda, “The Glorious age of Chinese Jade” in Jade, ed. Roger Keverne, p. 171
11 Yang Boda, “A Brief account of the Qing Court Collection of Jadeites,” Palace Museum Journal 2000, no 6
pp 40–44
12 illustrated in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch’ing Court, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1997, p. 116 and 117, no. 29
Next: (8) An Exceptional Large White Jade Vase and Cover
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