Rare et important disque en jade blanc sculpte, bi, Chine, Dynastie Qing, Époque Qianlong (1736-1795). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2012

Le disque est sculpté sur chaque face d'une frise centrale circulaire ornée de motifs lentillés dans le style archaïque, entourée d'un registre de quatre masques de taotie réservés sur fond losangé. La tranche est incisée d'un poème de l'Empereur Qianlong vantant la beauté des jades de Hetian et la qualité de la sculpture. Le poème se termine par une date "Qianlong dingmo zhengyue yuti" ('inscription impériale datant du premier mois de l'année cyclique de dingmo') correspondant à l'année 1787. Diamètre: 23,4 cm. (9¼ in.). Estimation €150,000 - €200,000

Provenance: Acquired in China by the grand father of the present owner
By descent, private collection, Germany, since the 1930s

Notes: The poem inscribed along the exterior edge of the present bi is recorded in Qing Gao Zong Yuzhi Shi Wen Quanji (Anthology of Imperial Qianlong Poems), vol. 5, chapter 29, section 5 and may be read as follows:

After the misfortunate emergence of vulgar jade carvings,
more recent jades are carved in the archaistic style.
Praise this plain bi measuring nearly one foot long;
originating from Hetian, it can be considered a piece of treasure.
Incorporating the archaic gu design adds an ancient flavour,
this type of carving requires great refined skill.
As pieces carved with more complex patterns can generate more revenue, pieces with simpler pure designs are rare to encounter.
Only those who share this view would resonate with this poem.
Imperially inscribed in the first month of the cyclical year of dingmo of Qianlong.

From the early Qianlong period onwards, The Emperor's passion for jade prompted a massive imperial output of art works in the material.
Qianlong was also deeply conscious of his Manchu ancestry and the need to claim credibility in the eyes of the native Han Chinese he ruled. As such he vehemently embraced the ancient arts of China by collecting vast quantities of ancient jades, bronzes, ceramics and other wares, and by incorporating archaistic designs into contemporary works.
It is recorded in Imperial records that in the Spring of the 35th year of Qianlong's reign, the Emperor was inspired by an archaic jade bi to write a poem, which he ordered the jade carvers to inscribe directly onto the piece. The bi was then mounted into a zitan stand, the back of which was further incised with the poem.
See two Han dynasty jade bi treated in this manner, and bearing inscriptions composed by Qianlong, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Jade Artifacts in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1982, nos. 188 (dated Spring 1764) and 189 (dated Spring 1778), along with an unmounted example, no. 190, which bears a date corresponding to Spring 1764.
A smaller archaistic white jade bi disk inlaid in a wood stand dating from Qianlong period is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Jadeware III, Hong Kong, 2006, p.157.
See, also, the zitan-mounted Eastern Han dynasty bi bearing a poem composed by Qianlong and a date corresponding to 1770, sold by Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 April 2007, lot 603; and the comparable disk inscribed with a Qianlong poem and dated to the jiayin year (1794) also sold by Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 April 2010, lot 1836.

It is interesting to note that not only zitan stands but also lacquer boxes were made especially to welcome a jade disk as we can see with a box illustrated in Legados dos Qing, A sumptuosa arte da Embalagem Imperial, The Macau Museum of Art, 2000, n.37.
The present disk was certainly meant to be inserted in such stand or box.

Christie's. Art d'Asie. 19 December 2012. Paris