2020_HGK_18242_2852_000(an_archaistic_white_and_russet_jade_fanggu-form_vase_qianlong_period)

Lot 2852. An archaistic white and russet jade fanggu-form vase, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 8.¾ in. (22.3 cm.) highEstimate HKD 400,000 - HKD 600,000Price realised HKD 500,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The vase is based on the archaic bronze form, carved in low relief with archaistic animal taotie masks on each side. The neck with slender upright leaves, and pendent leaves around the foot. The stone is of a white tone with occasional russet inclusions, box.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s London, 4 November 2009, lot 133.

Note: The present vase follows the archaic bronze prototype, fanggu, a type of wine vessel used in the rituals of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. By the Qing period, archaic forms and motifs found great popularity at court and a number of jade vessels, such as the present example, were produced to reflect the fashion of the period.

Compare with a slightly taller white jade gu-form vase (24.3 cm. high) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ching Court, Taipei, 1997, no. 11. Compare also with a few other jade gu-form vases of varying sizes, shapes and types of jades in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Jadeware, III, Hong Kong, 1995, nos. 130-134

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 9 July 2020