Lot 2853. A rare spinach green jade ‘peach’ vase, meiping, Qing dynasty, 18th century; 10 in. (25.5 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 1,000,000 - HKD 2,000,000. Price realised HKD 1,250,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The vase is superbly carved on the exterior with a broad band of peach fruits and leaves borne on gnarled branches on the body. The shoulder is carved with four of the Bajixiang ‘Eight Buddhist Emblems’ enclosed within ruyi heads, separated by plantain leaves. The foot is similarly decorated with the rest of the four Bajixiang below bats. The base is incised with a six-character Qianlong reign mark in regular script., box.

Provenance: Sold at Christie’s London, 8 June 2004, lot 434.

Note: It is rare to find a jade vase in meiping form. The form of the current vase is very similar to that of porcelain meiping made at the Imperial kilns during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns. A slightly larger spinach-green jade meiping (26.7 cm.) of very similar design was formerly in the Qing Court Collection, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing. The vase is similarly carved on the body with peach branches, floral blooms enclosed within ruyi heads on the shoulder, and lotus flowers within upright petals around the foot (fig. 1). It is illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 64.

A spinach-green jade meiping, Qing dynasty, 18th century, 26.7 cm, in the Qing Court Collection, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing.

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