Footnotes

• 清乾隆 白玉盌一對 陰刻「乾隆年製」及 「甲」隸書款
  
  Provenance:
  An important Asian private collection
  
  來源：
  重要亞洲私人收藏
  
  The Qianlong emperor's conquest of the Dzungar Khanate, now known as Xinjiang, between 1755 and 1759, permitted a larger quantity of jade to be sent to the Qing court; and with that, the opportunity for careful selection of the highest-quality material for the use of the emperor.
  
  The exceptional quality of the white jade stone, smoothly polished to a lustrous sheen, would have made any embellishment superfluous. Perfectly proportioned, these bowls, exquisitely matched in colour and polish, exemplify the finest jade craftsmanship accomplished in the jade ateliers during the celebrated reign of the Qianlong emperor. Compare a similar pair of white jade bowls, 18th century (14.5cm diam.), unmarked, in the British Museum, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, pl.29:13, where the author notes that undecorated jade vessels in porcelain shapes, as here, probably represented the highest quality in eating and drinking utensils.
  
  The present bowls are particularly rare because of the Qianlong Imperial reign marks incised on their base, and more so for the use of the additional character mark. Compare two other undecorated jade bowls, Qianlong marks and period with an additional Jia-character mark, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, the first of identical size (acc.no.GY000742N), and the second, of slightly smaller size (acc.no.GY000583N). A further similar white jade bowl, Qianlong mark and period with an additional jia character, is illustrated in Ming and Qing Chinese Arts from the C.P. Lin Collection, Hong Kong, 2014, pl.130.
  
  See also a pair of white jade bowls, Qianlong seal marks and period (13cm diam.), from the Andrew K.F. Lee collection, illustrated by Tina Yee-wan Pang and Jane Sze, eds., Virtuous Treasures: Chinese Jades from the Scholar's Table, Hong Kong, 2008, pl.31.; and another white jade bowl, Qianlong, unmarked, illustrated in The Splendour of Jade: The Songzhutang Collection of Jade, 2011, pl.152. Compare also a pair of pale green-white jade bowls, Qianlong, unmarked, in the British Royal collection, presented by the Guangxu emperor on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, illustrated by J.Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, vol.III, London, 2016, p.762, nos.1798-1799.
  
  A similar pair of white jade bowls, 18th century, without a mark, was sold at Sotheby's London, 14 May 2014, lot 23.
  
  白玉玉質。侈口、深腹、淺圈足。外底心有「乾隆年製」，圈足沿刻「甲」字。
  
  此對白玉盌玉質白中泛青，打磨細膩，素面無紋，更顯其瑩潤玉質及自然紋理。乾隆帝平定準格爾及大小和卓之亂後，官方控制新疆玉料開採，供宮廷玉器生產專用，此對玉盌即為一例。
  
  宮廷中之素面器皿，往往都選用上佳玉質而成，品級相當，非皇親貴戚不能用，見大英博物館藏十八世紀白玉盌一對，J.Rawson，《Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁400，編號29:13。
  
  此對玉盌上所刻「甲」字，或為區別器物所置放宮殿位置，或為器物編碼。帶千字文之素面玉盌為數甚少，台北故宮博物院藏兩件清乾隆素面玉盌，同樣刻有「乾隆年製」及「甲」字楷書款，其中一件尺寸與本拍品相當（博物館編號：故玉000742N），另一隻尺寸較小（博物館編號：故玉000583N）。香港長青館亦藏一例，同樣帶有「甲」字款，見《長青館藏明清瓷、玉、角、竹、畫琺瑯》，香港，2014年，圖版130。
  
  傳世收藏中，刻有「大清乾隆年製」篆書款但不帶千字文款之例，見李景勳收藏一例（口徑13厘米），著錄於彭綺雲，《閣有天珍：中國文房玉雕》，香港大學美術博物館，2008年，頁82，編號31。另有無款識一例，見《韞玉生輝：松竹堂珍藏玉器》，2011年，頁190-191，編號152。另見光緒皇帝於維多利亞女王1897年慶祝登基鑽禧週年紀念時贈送的一對清乾隆青玉素面盌，現屬英國皇室收藏，著錄於J.Ayers，《Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen》，卷三，倫敦，2016年，頁762，編號1798-1799。
  
  倫敦蘇富比曾售出一十八世紀對無款白玉盌，2014年5月14日，拍品23。