A SUPERB WHITE JADE 'BAJIXIANG' BOWL

Qianlong

Footnotes

清乾隆 白玉八吉祥碗


Provenance: a Western private collection, and thence by descent

來源：西方私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今

The sheer opulence of the bowl is emphasised by the generous proportions of the well-hollowed interior, creating a spatial depth of form. In addition, the Eight Buddhist Emblems, evenly spaced on the exterior, finely balance the archaistic designs of interlacing chilong depicted on the lower register and at the same time, successfully allow for the fine quality of the white jade to show.

It is likely that the present bowl was carved after the Qianlong emperor's campaign against the Dzungar Mongols in Xinjiang (1755-1759). This campaign secured control over the area of Khotan and allowed direct access to greater quantities of high-quality jade from the region, compared to earlier periods.

Buddhism was the state religion of the Qing dynasty and many emperors were devout practitioners of the faith. Jades, ceramics, textiles, bronzes and other items manufactured throughout the reign of the Qianlong Emperor frequently incorporated Buddhist subject-matter and symbolism. The Eight Buddhist Emblems, Bajixiang, arguably amongst the most readily identifiable symbols found in Buddhist iconography, represent the offerings made to the Buddha Shakyamuni by the gods following his enlightenment. The emblems can be briefly translated as follows: The Wheel of Law falun, the inexorable expansion of the Buddha's teaching; the Conch Shell luo, majesty, the voice of the Buddha; the Umbrella san, spiritual authority, reverence; the Canopy gai, royal grace; the Lotus hua, purity; the Vase ping, eternal harmony, vessel of the nectar of immortality; the Paired Fish shuangyu, conjugal happiness, fertility, protection, spiritual liberation; finally, the Endless Knot chang, eternity.

At the same time, the archaistic chilong on the present lot demonstrate the taste for archaism and classical antiquity at the Qing Court. The Qianlong emperor proposed to 'restore ancient ways', referring to the view of ancient culture as having intrinsic moral qualities of sincerity, simplicity and happy exuberance. For this purpose the Emperor instructed the Court to collect drawings of antiquities, such as the Xiqing gujian (Catalogue of Xiqing Antiquities). Jade carvers were thus encouraged to study archaic bronze vessels in the Qing Court Collection or in illustrated woodblock prints, and adapting them to the medium of jade; 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 but larger white jade 'bajixiang' bowl and cover, Qianlong, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2013, lot 3398.