A WHITE JADE 'CHILONG' SNUFF BOTTLE

Mid Qing Dynasty

Footnotes

清中期 白玉螭龍紋鼻烟壺

Provenance:
Charlotte Horstmann and Gerald Godfre Ltd, Hong Kong early 1990 (by repute)
Youran Zhai Collection, Hong Kong

來源:
香港Charlotte Horstmann and Gerald Godfrey公司，1990年代初（據藏家）
香港悠然齋珍藏

The archaistic style of the chilong on the present snuff bottle recalls the Qianlong emperor's fascination with antiquity and archaism. Proposing to 'restore ancient ways', referring to the view of ancient culture as having intrinsic qualities of sincerity, simplicity and happy exuberance, the emperor instructed the Court to collect drawings of antiquities, such as the 'Catalogue of Xiqing Antiquities' Xi Qing Gu Jian, compiled in 1755, which provided the craftsmen with a source of inspiration in jade carving; see Chang Li-tuan, The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, pp.49-50.

Compare with a related white jade snuff bottle carved with chilong, mid Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong, 2003, p.143, no.212.

鼻烟壺扁瓶形，橢圓形圈足。壺體兩面皆雕螭龍紋，似在空中飛舞，帶粉紅色碧璽蓋。

此拍品的風格反映了乾隆帝對「仿古」玉器的偏愛，也正正是其針對裝飾繁瑣、缺乏精純質感的「新樣」、「時樣」玉器設計的因應之道。爲讓玉做的工匠領會其要求，他採取「示稿内府玉人」的方法—將内府收藏古器物的圖錄，如《西清古鑒》交付玉工作為新製玉器時造型、紋飾的藍本。見張麗瑞著，《宮廷之雅：清代仿古及畫意玉器特展圖錄》，臺北，1997年，頁49-50。

可比較一件清宮舊藏白玉夔鳳紋鼻烟壺，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：鼻烟壺》，北京，2003年，圖版212。