About the Work

The vase is of octagonal baluster shape, supported on a spreading stepped foot. The high hollowed foot is decorated with a ruyi border beneath a double raised band and a band of triangular lappets. The body of the vase is finely carved in low relief with a decoration of stylised bunched lotus flowers within a framework of ascending and descending acanthus leaves. The waisted neck is similarly decorated, surmounted by a ruyi band and flanked by two openwork geometric handles in the shape of archaic kui dragons. The domed cover is carved with another ruyi border and crowned by a tall finial, inset with a cabochon garnet. The vase and cover are well hollowed, and the stone is of the palest celadon tone. The inside of the foot is inscribed with the number ‘28’ in ink and a paper label has been applied reading ‘Loan…1961’ and ‘Lady Delamere’.

During his long reign, emperor Qianlong built an unrivalled collection of antique and contemporary jades. Alongside a great admiration for Chinese archaic jades, Qianlong had a great fondness for Mughal-style jades, which led him to commission his own court lapidaries to create jade objects inspired by Mughal aesthetics. The present vase is a remarkable example of a fusion of Chinese and Mughal elements. The shape, ruyi bands and archaic style handles are all typically Chinese, but the insertion of a garnet and above all the low relief decoration with stylised lotuses and leaves are evidently inspired by traditional Mughal jades.

Jade vases from the Qing dynasty with Mughal-style decorations are significantly rare. Not seldom have the Mughal-style decorations on Qing jades been adapted towards a more Chinese style, but the decorations on the present vase stand out because of their strong resemblance to authentic Mughal decorations.

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Provenance

Formerly in the collection of Sir Ernest Joseph Cassel (1852 - 1921)
Formerly in the collection of Ruth Mary Clarisse Cholmondeley, Baroness Delamere (1906 - 1986)
Formerly in the collection of Noel Cunningham, son of Lady Delamere

Exhibited:
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England, 1961 - 1998

Literature

A small jade vase with a comparable ‘Indian-lotus’ pattern is illustrated in: Ch’in Hsiao-yi et al, Catalogue of a Special Exhibition of Hindustan Jade in the National Palace Museum, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1983, pl. 78, pp. 282-3.