A PAIR OF CHINESE IMPERIAL GILT-DECORATED BOWENITE BOWLS

A PAIR OF CHINESE IMPERIAL GILT-DECORATED BOWENITE BOWLS
FOUR-CHARACTER QIANLONG MARKS AND OF THE PERIOD 1736-95

Each intricately decorated in gilt with three cartouches enclosing birds perched amongst blossoming branches, the panels set against a diaper ground incorporating flowerheads and fylfots, all contained between bands of ruyi-heads and lappets, each with rich scrolls of lotus blooms amidst leafy tendrils to the interior, with continuous scrolling bands to the short flared feet, the bases with the reign marks contained in double squares and surrounded by further foliage, 9.5cm. (2)

Provenance: the Lawrence Collection of jades and hardstone carvings, purchased from Spink & Son prior to 1959.

These bowls are carved in bowenite, which is also known as 'Suzhou jade' as the material was traditionally mined in the Suzhou region. Some scholars believe that jade bowls with gilt decoration were influenced by Mughal jades, which were popular during the Qianlong period. Gold had previously been applied to lacquer and ceramic pieces, but the use of gilt decoration on jade objects was a new development during the Qing dynasty. The method involved mixing gold powder with special glue and then painting the gilt directly on to the jade. This was a luxury that could only be afforded by the Imperial household and the extremely wealthy and powerful. The present examples were clearly manufactured in Beijing by the Imperial workshops. Similar jade bowls with gilt decoration can be found in the collections of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Cf. J C S Lin, The Immortal Stone: Chinese Jades from the Neolithic Period to the Twentieth Century, p.126 for a pair of larger bowls with the same decoration from the Oscar Raphael Bequest now in the collection of The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, accession nos.O.31A & B-1938; see also the Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, 1935-6, no.2331 for a pair of related bowls and covers decorated with dragons and described as 'lavender jade' from the collection of Queen Mary, Buckingham Palace.

清乾隆 御製包文石雕鎏金纏枝花卉紋碗 一對

《乾隆年製》款

來源：勞倫斯珍藏玉石，1959年前購於Spink & Son。