AN EXCEPTIONAL PAIR OF WHITE JADE BOWLS

Description:

China, Qianlong period
D. 6,6 cm, H. 5,4 cm
Each bowl with deep rounded sides, raised on a circular foot ring, of lustrous polish displaying exceptional translucency in the nearly flawless white stone.
Old European private collection, assembled before 1990
The Qianlong emperor's conquest of the Dzungar Khanate, now known as Xinjiang, between 1755 and 1759, permitted a larger quantity of jade to be sent to the Qing court; and with that, the opportunity for careful selection of the highest-quality material for the use of the emperor.
The exceptional quality of the white jade stone, smoothly polished to a lustrous sheen, would have made any embellishment superfluous. Perfectly proportioned, these bowls, exquisitely matched in colour and polish, exemplify the finest jade craftsmanship accomplished in the jade ateliers during the celebrated reign of the Qianlong emperor. Compare a similar pair of white jade bowls, 18th century (14.5cm diam.), unmarked, in the British Museum, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, pl.29:13, where the author notes that undecorated jade vessels in porcelain shapes, as here, probably represented the highest quality in eating and drinking utensils
Fine condition, one bowl with two fine lines within the stone