Footnotes

Treasury 1, no. 175

翡翠鼻煙壺

The Loch Awe Blue Jadeite

Jadeite; extremely well hollowed with a concave foot surrounded by a flat footrim
1770–1860
Height: 5.35 cm
Mouth/lip: 1.05/1.90 and 1.88 cm (oval)
Stopper: tourmaline
Condition: workshop condition

Provenance:
Hugh M. Moss Ltd., (London, circa 1972)
The Loch Awe Collection (Lady Mary Stewart)
Hugh M. Moss Ltd., (Hong Kong, 1985)

Published:
Kleiner 1987, no. 45
Treasury 1, no. 175

Exhibited:
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, October 1987
Creditanstalt, Vienna, May–June 1993

Commentary
The term 'blue' as applied to jadeite is usually used with a certain flexibility since jadeite of a distinct, unequivocal blue colour is extremely rare. The best one can hope for, certainly in a piece of material large enough for a snuff bottle, is a greyish-blue colour, although there is one remarkable exception which dates from the late Qianlong period and was almost certainly made at the palace workshops (see Hamilton 1977, p. 32, J.51). No. 177 has some areas of darker, more convincing blue than this, and, of course, lavender and lilac are also found in jadeite, but there are few jadeite bottles that are as pleasing and as even a bluish colour as this one, albeit the term bluish-grey would be more accurate to describe the precise colour.

One reason why tourmaline stoppers are nearly always found on bottles of anything approaching blue colour is because the vibrant pink of the material emphasizes the blueness of the jadeite. Remove the stopper from this bottle and the term bluish-grey must be used; with it in place, however, the bottle appears to be of a more definite, albeit still steely-blue colour. The colour is somewhat similar to that of Treasury 1, no. 174, although the greater transparency of that example reduces its apparent blueness. The two bottles are probably from the same workshop and even though this one is more compressed, they are of remarkably similar profile, tapering very slightly toward the foot. Each has a cylindrical neck of similar height, is identically hollowed through an equally wide mouth in relation to the lip, and each has an identical concave, oval foot surrounded by a narrow, flat footrim. Although two different workshops might use some of these features on bottles of similar material, to find all of them so closely repeated suggests the same governing artist and a single workshop.

Apart from the lovely colour of this bottle, its texture is also exciting. The stone is suffused with the common crystalline markings of jadeite which always make for a fascinating surface. There are also several veins and mottled areas of more transparent stone which join with the more crystalline patches to create a natural design of clouds or the frozen surface of a lake reflecting a clear blue sky. As with all of the bottles in this group, the formal integrity is impeccable.

For a reassessment of the use of jadeite in snuff bottles, see Treasury 1, no. 187, and for another of the group, although not necessarily from the same hand, Moss, Graham, and Tsang 1993, no. 59.

Loch Awe 珍藏的藍色翡翠

翡翠；掏膛非常規整，凹底、平底圈足

1770～1860
高：5.35 厘米
口經/唇經：1.05/1.90 、1.88 厘米 （橢圓形）
蓋：碧璽
狀態敘述：作坊狀態

來源：
Hugh M. Moss Ltd (倫敦，約1972)
Loch Awe 珍藏 (作家瑪麗．斯圖爾特夫人)
Hugh M. Moss Ltd (香港，1985)

文獻：
Kleiner 1987, 編號45
Treasury 1, 編號 175
展覽：
Sydney L. Moss Ltd, 倫敦，1987年10 月
Creditanstalt, 維也納, 1993年5月至6月

說明：
說"藍色"翡翠，不能要求太嚴密。"藍"色本來就有三十多色調，而大多數的所謂藍色翡翠是雪青、淡青、鉛白、蒼白、鴨卵青等顏色，或是藍色跟別的顏色混在一起的（如Treasury 1, 編號177）。Hamilton 1977頁32，編號J.51是顯著的例外，是乾隆晚期的煙壺，無疑地是在朝廷作坊作的。

藍色翡翠的煙壺之所以常常帶粉紅色碧璽蓋，是因為碧璽鮮明的粉紅色更能顯出翡翠綠的藍色。把蓋拿掉，本壺的顏色就是淡藍灰色了；把它裝好，壺的顏色就變成亮鋼藍，還算是藍色吧。本壺的顏色與Treasury 1, 編號174的顏色相近，唯編號174因為翡翠較透明而顏色更淡薄。雖然174編號只略扁，兩壺外形很相似，都有筒形的短頸，口經和唇經的比例差不多，掏膛一樣地完整，凹足與狹平圈足也是一致的，我們認為它們是同一個作坊的產品。當然，這些特點或多或少會出現在原料相同而作坊不同的煙壺上，但是那麼多方面的符合使人推想，這兩件壺大概是在同一個作坊，在同一個工藝師的指導下作成的。

本壺不但顏色好，肌理也爽心悅目。晶瑩的輝玉中帶著不同透明度的紋理和結晶處，讓人想象高高薄雲天、湖冰一望映天光等景觀。形式優美也是這系列煙壺的特色。Moss, Graham, and Tsang 1993, 編號59 也屬於這系列，但不一定是同一個人作的。