Footnotes

Treasury 1, no. 81


黃閃玉蓮瓣鼻煙壺
御製品，推定為宮廷作坊作，北京，1736～1799


The Palace Lotus-Clad Yellow Jade

Nephrite; well hollowed but leaving a substantial base area, with a flat foot; carved with bands of formalized lotus petals around the shoulders and the base

Imperial, attributed to the palace workshops, Beijing, 1736–1799
Height: 6.01 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.63/1.25 cm
Stopper: glass; silver collar
Condition: workshop condition

Provenance:
Richerson Rhodes
Joseph Baruch Silver
Clare Lawrence (1992)
Hugh M. Moss Ltd. (Hong Kong, 1992)

Published:
Kleiner 1995, no. 47
Treasury 1, no. 81

Exhibited:
British Museum, June–October 1995

Commentary:
This supremely elegant bottle seems irresistibly linked to the palace workshops. It is of the yellow material beloved of the Qing court and particularly of the Qianlong emperor (see discussion under Treasury 1, no. 75). It is of a modified meiping (prunus blossom vase) form (see discussion under Treasury 1, no. 92). It has a wide mouth and good hollowing in the upper area of the vessel, while leaving a substantial foot area unhollowed (0.86 cm—see discussion under Treasury 1, no. 75), and is decorated with an understated formalized design derived from Buddhist symbolism. It also has the flat upper neck rim typical of palace jade bottles (see discussion under Treasury 1, no. 75).

The taste of the Qianlong emperor in the arts was all-encompassing. Wares made for the court during his reign included incredibly ornate decoration of often bizarre forms, superbly detailed and highly artistic enamelling and carving, and supremely elegant, understated rustic wares. He clearly loved art at every level from expressions of technical wizardry to the austere simplicity of the refined wares made for the long-established influential minority. This bottle represents the more refined, subtle and understated end of his taste-range. The material is allowed to speak largely for itself, the decoration being not only formalized and limited to decorative borders, but extremely discreet. Nowhere in the court output of jade carvings is the carving as unobtrusive to the form as here. The petals are barely discernible as separate decoration until the bottle is in the hand, and even then they are so softly carved in such low relief that they remain no more than a gentle counterpoint to the main themes of material and form. When closely examined, however, the superlative quality of the carving becomes apparent. Despite a shallow profile, each petal is superbly articulated with a central ridge giving way to a gently undulating main area which is then curved down to the plane of the body of the bottle with immense subtlety and masterly, soft carving, perfectly matched to an equally gentle, soft polish.


九霄黃玉覆蓮瓣

閃玉；掏膛整齊而底壁厚；豐肩淺浮雕覆蓮瓣，近足收斂處亦淺浮雕仰蓮瓣

御製品，推定為宮廷作坊作，1736～1799
高：6.01 厘米
口經/唇經：0.63/1.25厘米
蓋：玻璃，銀座
狀態敘述：作坊狀態

來源：
Richerson Rhodes
Joseph Baruch Silver
Clare Lawrence (1992)
Hugh M. Moss, Ltd (香港，1992)
文獻﹕
Kleiner 1995, 編號47
Treasury 1, 編號81
展覽﹕
大英博物館, 倫敦, 1995年6月～10月

說明：
本壺的顏色是一系列清朝皇帝（特別是乾隆皇帝）鍾愛的，是梅瓶衍生的形式，其口寬，其底厚，膛上部掏得比較完整，有出唇一平面圈、扺調的佛教圖案，難以否認宮廷作坊的出身。它代表乾隆皇帝趣味幅度最雅致的一端。淺浮雕的蓮瓣在宮廷雕玉器中獨一無二，一看也許會不特別注意到它們，不品味它們怎樣不顯眼地襯托樸素的壺體，而只有拿起壺來仔細地看看才能領會兩道蓮瓣紋雕法的精緻高妙。