Bonhams 1793 : A large yellow jade incense burner, fangding Mid Qing dynasty

Mid Qing dynasty
Rising on four tall straight feet, each side enclosing a taotie mask flanked by whorl and geometric motifs reserved on a key-fret ground, separated by raised notched flanges, all below a frieze of zoomorphic motifs reserved on a leiwen ground, flanked by upright handles, the fitted cover intricately worked with interlocking ruyi heads below a knop in the form of a dragon depicted in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl', the stone of a rich yellowish-green tinged with russet splashes, wood stand.
23.4cm high. (3).

Sold for HK$ 8,384,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

清中期黃玉雕饕餮扉棱紋高足方鼎形爐

Provenance來源:
Frederick Hardenbrook Ltd., 9 December 1966

Fangding were utilised in the late Shang dynasty as ritual food vessels, and the shape was frequently utilised in the Qianlong period. For another jade vessel in the form of a fangding in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, pp. 58-9, no.2. See also a green jade fangding in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum Vol.III Jadeware, Hong Kong, 1996, p.189, no.155.