A very pale greenish-white jade 'dragon' washer

Qianlong/Jiaqing

Footnotes

清乾隆/嘉慶 青白玉雕龍紋筆舔

Provenance:
Fritz Siegfried Hess (1886-1975), Berlin and London, acquired prior to 1931, and thence by descent

來源：
Fritz Siegfried Hess（1886-1975），柏林及倫敦，蒐集於1931年，後由家族繼承

Fritz Siegfried Hess was born in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1886 and was an eminent art collector. As a result of the 1929 financial crash and the rise of National Socialism, as a German Jew, he sold much of his collection in Lucerne in September 1931, including old master paintings by El Greco, Tintoretto, Rubens, van Dyck and Goya as well as works by artists such as Degas, Renoir, Daumier, Cezanne and Toulouse Lautrec. In preparation for his departure from Germany to the UK in 1933, Hess shipped to the UK a number of paintings and works of art including the present Lot.

Surviving photographs of his house at 44 - 46 Am Hirrschsprung, Berlin Dahlem, show part of his important art collection, including the rare jade 'dragon' washer, displayed within a cabinet below a painting by El Greco in the lounge.

Fritz Siegfried Hess於1886年德國威斯巴登出生，為當時知名藝術品收藏家。1929年，德國陷入金融危機，納粹主義日趨嚴重，身為猶太裔的他1931年將自己的大部分收藏在瑞士琉森出售，其中不乏眾多文藝復興名家名作，包括格雷考、丁托列托、魯本斯、范戴克等等，亦有眾多印象派大師作品，包括竇加、雷諾瓦、杜米埃、塞尚、羅特列克等。1933年搬離德國時，將自己剩餘的藏品一同運到了英國，其中包括此件玉筆舔。

從遺留至今其位於柏林希爾施普龍44-46號公寓的就照片中，仍然可見此件玉雕筆舔置於其櫃中，櫃上掛有格雷考的油畫。

The exquisite jade washer is superbly carved in the interior in high relief with a writhing dragon pursuing the flaming pearl, combining the aesthetics with the utilitarian use of the raised central boss necessary for the cleaning of the brush. Related jade brush washers are more typically carved with chilong rather than the rarer high relief design of a dragon as on the present lot.

A related white jade chilong washer, 18th century, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 June 2015, lot 3192; and see also a white jade quatrefoil chilong brush washer, Qianlong, which was sold at Christie's London, 5 November 2013, lot 246.

宮廷文房中，此式筆舔鮮為所見，筆舔內素面無紋，便於整理筆尖上的墨汁，中間高浮雕龍紋亦突出其藝術感，既實用又美觀。

香港佳士得曾售出十八世紀白玉螭龍筆洗一件，可資比較，2015年6月3日，拍品編號3192；另見倫敦佳士得售出乾隆一例，2013年11月5日，拍品編號246。