Lot 3606. A superb yellow jade ear-cup, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 10.8 cm., 4 1/8  in. Estimate 1,000,000 — 1,200,000  HKD. Lot sold 2,360,000 HKD. © Sotheby's

of archaistic form, the shallow oval-shaped bowl with sturdy sides rising from a short foot, the main sides flanked by a pair of elongated 'C'-shaped 'ear' handles extending just below the mouthrim, the lustrous stone of a warm translucent yellow colour.

Note: It is rare to find a scholar's object of this size and quality in yellow jade, although another ear-cup of similar form in white jade, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, incised with a Qianlong four-character seal mark, is illustrated in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch’ing Court, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1997, cat. no. 31. 

The inspiration of the cup is Han dynasty lacquer ear-cups, such as one in the British Museum, gift of Brooke Sewell, with an inscription noting that it was made for the emperor in AD 4 at the Western Factory workshop in Shu (now Sichuan Province), illustrated by Sir Harry Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London, 1979, p. 43, pl. 13.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art, Hong Kong, 07 april 2015