Bonhams 1793 : A white jade 'goose' box and cover Qianlong

24 Nov 2012 14:00 CST Hong Kong
Timeless and Translucent: The Harold E. Stack Collection of Chinese Jades
Back to auction 20826

A white jade 'goose' box and cover

Qianlong
Exquisitely worked and smoothly polished in the form of a recumbent goose, the cover naturalistically worked to form the upper part of the creature, its long neck extending to the head in a coiled position, its beak depicted biting on stems of lotus leaf and blossom, all intricately reticulated, flanked at the sides with finely incised feathery wings; the box forming the lower part of the creature, its webbed feet tucked at the base, the translucent stone of a brilliant white colour with attractive russet inclusions.
10.9cm long. (2).

Sold for HK$ 4,580,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

Provenance 來源:
Spink & Son Ltd., London, 20 May 1985

High quality miniature jade vessels such as the current lot were particularly favoured by the Qianlong Emperor as his personal playthings. The box and cover is carefully worked from a single stone of immense quality and clarity, intended to be used as a small treasure box holding the Emperor's favorite and most cherished small private objects.

For a white jade box and cover in the form of a quail from the Qing court collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware II, Shanghai 2008, p.234, no.195. See also a closely related white jade 'goose' box with inlaid carnelian and black glass representing the crown and eyes in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (fig.1), donated by Thomas Watters Esq. in 1855 (V&A:1855-1888), illustrated by Ming Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, p.59, no.61; and again in Virtuous Treasures. Chinese Jades for the Scholar's Table, Hong Kong, 2008, p.121, no.54.

Compare a similar jade 'bird' box and cover from the Gerald Godfrey collection, exhibited at the Asia Society, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 October 1995, lot 865.

清乾隆白玉鵝形蓋盒

玉質潔白瑩潤，上帶褐黃斑，從黃斑分佈來看，明顯是以原件玉石雕作蓋盒。盒呈卧伏式鵝形，頸彎曲回首，口銜荷花荷葉，羽翼纖細豐滿，層層相疊，整齊有序，身內掏為空膛，鵝子上半身為蓋，下半身為盒，雕工精細，底部腳掌也交代清楚，匠心獨韻之作。

此蓋盒於1985年5月20日得自英國Spink & Son公司。以掏圓雕動物形玉器為空膛而成的玉器皿，在清代以前幾乎是少見的，此舉賦予了一件擺件的實用功能，可貯藏小件，為文人用品增添玩味。清宮多見玉雕鵪鶉蓋盒，如現藏於北京故宮博物院，屬清宮舊藏的青玉鵪鶉盒，見張廣文編，《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：玉器（下）》，上海，2008年，頁234，圖版195，此鵪鶉也是以卧伏狀，身體中間分開，上半身為蓋，下半身為盒，在形式上與本拍品一致。另一對首都博物館藏玉雕鵪鶉蓋盒，可參看《北京文物精粹大系》編委會及北京市文物局編，《北京文物精粹大系.玉器卷》，北京，2002年，頁188，圖版218，除有如上述之清宮舊藏之形式外，此對蓋盒也是以一块玉料雕琢而成的。

而與本拍品相同，以卧伏鵝形為蓋盒的玉雕例子，可參考1855年由Thomas Watters Esq.捐贈于英國國立維多利亞阿伯特博物館藏品（fig.1），編號 V&A:1855-1888，見Ming Wilson著，《Chinese Jades》，倫敦，2004年，頁59，編號61，該蓋盒後於2007-2008年間展覽於香港大學美術博物館，可參考香港大學美術博物館，《閣有天珍：中國文房玉雕》，香港，2008年，頁121，編號54。此蓋盒鑲紅玉髓及黑琉璃作鵝冠及眼之點綴，其羽翼之雕琢以及層層羽翼之關係清晰，而且也保留了玉料上原來的褐黃斑，與本拍品皆如出一轍。另參看曾展出於亞洲協會Gerald Godfrey收藏的意見鳥形玉盒（紐約，1980年，圖錄編號134），後於1995年10月30日在香港佳士得拍賣，拍品865。