Bonhams 1793 : A Mughal-style jadeite vase Late Qing dynasty

A Mughal-style jadeite vase and stand Late Qing dynasty

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

A Mughal-style jadeite vase

Late Qing dynasty
The finely worked vessel supported on a double chrysanthemum petal and bird head stand, simulating wood, the slender body rising gently to high shoulders, extending upwards towards a trumpet neck, finely worked on one side with a deity depicted standing on a giant tortoise holding flaming ruyi and a stem of flower beneath a coiled dragon in flight, the reverse with a deity depicted standing on a giant toad holding a ritual conch and flowers beneath a phoenix biting on a twisted piece of string, both figures adorned in elaborate robes, between raging waves at the foot and wispy clouds at the upper body, the neck with further floral scrolls flanked by a pair of floral handles suspending loose rings in high relief, the delicately worked stone of a pale white colour with apple green and ochre flecks.
29.1cm high.

Sold for HK$ 475,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

Provenance 來源:
Alfred Wannieck collection, Paris (by repute)
George W. Headley III collection, Lexington
S. Bernstein & Co., San Francisco, 15 October 1991

Illustrated 出版:
Arts of Asia, November-December 1991, vol.21 no.26, p.37

George William Headley III (1908-1985) was born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1908 into a wealthy family. He studied art at the Art Student's League in New York and l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, before apprenticing at the renowned New York jeweller Paul Flato in the 1930s. In the 1940s, Headley opened his own jewelry boutique in California at the Hotel Bel-Air, where he designed for many of the Hollywood elite and their wives, including Douglas Fairbanks, Gary Cooper, the Marx Brothers, Vincent Minelli, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, and Fanny Brice.

The current lot is a fine example of Mughal craftsmanship. The stone has been intricately worked to a fine degree, revealing a thin well polished body. The figures are unidentifiable as representing either Hindu or Buddhist deities, but it is common to find such depiction of deities on Mughal jades, with figures bearing haloes, bearing ritual attributes festooned with billowing scarves. For an example of a Mughal-style jade bowl with deities in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, see Later Chinese Jades. Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century, San Francisco, 2007, p.332, no.384.

清晚期翡翠痕都斯坦式高足活環瓶

玉質白透，微泛青，局部帶翠及黃色沁紋。瓶胎薄如紙，高身，侈口，斜肩，底部雕一菊瓣形仿木式台座。瓶頸部飾纏枝莨苕紋，兩側各飾花葉形耳，其下套活環。瓶身從上至下漸斂，上淺浮雕海水龍鳳神仙人物像，一神仙手持靈芝，單腳立於海龜之上，祥龍盤旋上空，另一神仙手持寶傘，腳踏一蟾，上空一鳳凰飛舞，瓶身下部飾翻騰海水，並圓雕五壽頭圍繞足部。

此器曾在萊剋星敦Headley-Whitney博物館展出，並在《Arts of Asia》1991年11/12月刊上著錄。早在為巴黎Alfred Wannieck舊藏，後為萊剋星敦喬治W.哈德利三世（George William Headley III，1908 1985）收藏。喬治於1908年出生名門，從小便受到良好的藝術教育，曾在紐約藝術學生聯盟學習，後赴法國美術學院進修。20世紀30年代，喬治成為紐約著名珠寶設計師Paul Flato學徒，10年後在加州開設自己的珠寶店。他曾為眾多好萊塢精英及其家人設計珠寶首飾。1960年，喬治娶惠特尼美國藝術博物館創辦人格特魯德（卒於1942年）之女芭芭拉惠特尼（Barbara Whitney）為妻。此玉瓶應該是喬治與巴黎進修時從Alfred Wannieck所得，在現藏家購入之前，一直與喬治的其他收藏保存於Headley-Whitney博物館中。

此玉瓶琢磨薄亮通透，人物紋飾融合印度教與佛教裝飾因素，帶有濃郁西域風格，是典型清晚期痕都斯坦風格玉器。參見三藩市亞洲藝術博物館藏一件清代白玉痕都斯坦式神仙坐像盌，其人物紋飾與本瓶如出一轍，見《Later Chinese Jades, Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century》，三藩市，2007年，頁332，圖版384。