Bonhams 1793 : A white jade 'marriage bowl' 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 'marriage bowl'

Qianlong
Raised on four splayed feet, the main body shaped in the form of peach, the fruit of longevity, the handle naturalistically worked in resemblance to a pierced pendant lying vertically across the vessel, the hanging musical stone beneath an archaistic scroll fixture, suspending shuangxi characters amongst knotted ribbons ending in a double tassel splitting at the short spout, flanked at the sides with a pair of bat handles with intricately worked shou characters between four pierced gold coins in relief, the stone of an icy white colour.
18.6cm high.

Sold for HK$ 2,300,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

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

Illustrated 出版:
Apollo, 1947, p.45, fig.XVII

Referred to as 'marriage bowls' in traditional Western literature on jades, high quality vessels of this form, intricately worked with auspicious and fortuitous emblems are traditionally referred to as 'brushwashers' in Chinese connoisseurship.

For a smaller example of similar form in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Yang Boda, Collections of Chinese Jade, Hebei, 1991, p.624, pl.318. For an example sold at auction, see a white jade marriage bowl from the collection of Lady McCorquodale (eldest sister of Diana, Princess of Wales), sold at Christie's London, 21 October 1974, lot 88, and later in the collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot 1539. See also another similar vessel worked with a single xi character from the Helen and Peter collection, illustrated in Auspicious Emblems. Chinese Cultural Treasures - 45th Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong, 2005, p.326, no.218.

清乾隆白玉福壽喜慶筆洗

玉質白色，溫潤滋肥。洗池呈變形海棠式，一端有一出水口，口沿一側透雕一磬以綬帶與一雙喜盤長相連成為提梁，綬帶尾部對稱分別垂於出水口兩側。洗身兩側分別透雕蝙蝠雙錢壽字耳，寓意「福壽雙全」。洗下承四個弧形矮足。

此白玉洗於1985年從倫敦Spink & Son公司購得，造型別緻，工藝複雜。並在1947年於《Apollo》學刊發表，頁45，圖版XVII。宮廷玉匠將磬、雙喜及綬帶巧妙雕琢相連，具有「喜慶連連」的吉祥寓意，是清宮盛行的裝飾題材。此類玉器通常被用作皇親國戚舉行婚禮或慶祝生辰的賀禮，清宮舊藏中亦可見到類似器物。

北京故宮博物院藏一件青玉五蝠紋洗，屬同類器物，見楊伯達編，《中國玉器全集（中）》第六卷，河北，1991年，頁624，圖版318。另見天津博物館藏一件清中期白玉福慶壽紋海棠式筆洗，雖提梁透雕「壽」字，但器形紋飾都與本器相似，見古方，《中國古玉器圖典》，北京，2007年，頁362。英國戴安娜王妃的長姐McCorquodale女士舊藏一件清乾隆白玉福壽喜慶洗與此器形之相同，1974年10月21日後從倫敦佳士得售出，拍品88，後轉手Alan and Simone Hartman收藏並於香港佳士得售出，2007年11月27日，拍品1539。另見香港敏求精舍長青館藏一件清喜慶白玉洗，但與此洗不同，其提梁只透雕單喜字，見香港藝術館，《千祥雲集：敏求精舍四十五週年紀念展》，香港，2005年，頁326，圖版218。