Lot 154
CHINESE WHITE JADE ARCHAISTIC 'TAOTIE' VASE AND COVER
QING DYNASTY
Auction: 08 November 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
清 白玉雕如意耳活環饕餮紋扁瓶
of rectangular section rising from a splayed foot to high shoulders and a waisted neck, flanked by a pair of ruyi sceptre handles with loop ring, the body finely carved in raised relief featuring archaic designs of taotie masks, leaf lappets and key-fret scroll borders, the stone of even white colour with a slight green hue
Dimensions
14cm high
Provenance
Private English collection, England
英格蘭私人收藏
Footnote
The taste for archaism during the Qing Dynasty is embodied in this vase, which draws its inspiration from archaic inlaid bronzes and reinterprets them. While the bands of taotie masks featured on Chinese bronzes from the Neolithic period, they have been stylised and placed on a vessel of modern silhouette and contemporary ruyi-sceptre handles. A closely comparable Qing dynasty example with taotie mask decoration, also similar in the square-sectioned body, is the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, museum no. Gu Yu 故玉 253. Another white jade vase with similar design of ruyi-sceptre handles and looped ring, is also in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, museum no. Gu Yu 故玉 242.
清代慕古之情盡顯於此瓶中，乾隆皇帝慕古如痴，在藝術上極力倡導「復古」及「仿古」，強調玉器應向古器物學習，即謂「玩物仍存師古情」，此瓶亦然。新石器時代青銅器上所見的饕餮紋施於本品歷經風格化蛻變，具有清朝現代輪廓和創新的如意耳器物上。一件相似的清代饕餮紋白玉扁方尊，藏於臺北故宮，館藏號「故玉253」；另參一例近似的清青玉如意耳扁壼，藏於臺北故宮，館藏號「故玉242」，皆可資比較。