Lot 116. A fine yellow jade 'chilong' rhyton, gong, Qianlong incised four-character mark and probably of the period (1736-1795). Estimate EUR 30,000 - EUR 50,000. Price realised EUR 125,000. © Christie’s Images Limited 2018.

De forme légèrement évasée, le col est escaladé par cinq chilong aux corps noueux. Le vase émerge d'une gueule de poisson dragon formant la base, portant une marque de l'empereur Qianlong à quatre caractères incisée sur le côté. 

Provenance: French private collection, acquired by the grand-father of the present owner in France in the 1920s.

Note: Archaistic jade rhytons of this type have their antecedents in jade rhytons of Han dynasty date, such as the example from the Han dynasty tomb of the King of Nanyue, illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 70, fig. 61. A number of design elements of the present rhyton are very similar to those of a dark green jade rhyton in the Palace Museum, Beijing, which has a Qianlong mark, illustrated by Yang Boda ed., Chinese JadesThroughout the Ages - Connoisseurship of Chinese Jades, Vol. 11, Qing Dynasty, 1996, no. 38. See another yellow jade Gong with a Makara base and a chilong handle in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 42, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 137.