Lot 2628. A finely carved white jade 'Dragon' moonflask, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 20.6 cm., 8 1/8 in. Estimate 1,000,000—1,200,000 HKD. Lot Sold 11,300,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's 2010.

of flattened globular form, well carved on each side with a frontal five-clawed dragon, its sinuous body wrapped around a 'flaming pearl', leaping amongst lotus scrolls and bajixiang, the waisted neck adorned with stylised floral and foliate designs, flanked by a pair of dragon ring handles, the lustrous stone of an even white tone with natural inclusions

Provenance: A Private French Collection.
S. Marchant & Son Ltd., London.

Exhibited: Post-Archaic Chinese Jades from Private Collections, S. Marchant and Son Ltd., London, 2000, cat. no. 14.

Note: The five-clawed frontal leaping dragon remains one of the most powerful and ubiquitous symbols of imperial authority, adorning items from the emperor's clothes to his palaces. While imperial 'dragon' moonflasks were popular in porcelain during the Qianlong period, they are relatively rarely encountered in jade. The present piece, with its deeply carved high relief design of a ferocious five-clawed dragon is one of the finest extant examples. Further 'dragon' moonflasks include one carved in low relief, with dragon handles and cover, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol. 6, Shijiazhuang, 1993, pl. 220; another with a cover and ringed mask-head handles, from the collection of Sir John Buchanan-Jardine, included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Art, London, 1935-36, cat. no. 2839; and a third example from the De An Tang collection, included in the exhibition A Romance with Jade. From the De An Tang Collection, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004, cat. no. 35.

The band of pendant acanthus leaves around the neck is derived from Western-influenced architectural and decorative elements. Such motifs were introduced by the Jesuit missionaries working at the Qianlong court and used on a variety of buildings following European palaces built within the Yuanmingyuan.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 08 Oct 10, Hong Kong