AN EXCEPTIONAL AND LARGE NEAR WHITE JADE TEAPOT AND COVER

Estimated Value:

20.000 € - 30.000 €

Schätzpreis:

65.000 €

Description:

China, Qianlong period
L. 21,5 cm
Worked from a near white stone with a compressed globular body formed with thick sides and rising from a subtly splayed foot to a constricted straight rim, one side of the body with a curved spout elegantly tapering with rounded contours to a delicately flared opening, the other side with a prominent C-shaped handle sensitively articulated with echoing scrolling tips. Decorated with bats and clouds in low relief.
According to the owners, from a private collection in southern Germany, acquired in the 1980s
A large quantity of high-quality raw jade was needed to make a jade pot. During the Kangxi and early Qianlong reigns, the jade-producing regions of Khotan and Yarkent were occupied by the Jungars, limiting the availability of raw jade. The court resorted to jade left over from previous dynasties or used raw jade sent as tribute or smuggled inland, resulting in limited production. In the tenth year of his reign, the Yongzheng Emperor ordered his ministers to "find good raw jade" as the court lacked it. In the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong rule, the Qing army finally defeated the Dzungar Khanate and consolidated its rule over what is now Xinjiang, which it administered through a regional government. From the 25th year of Qianlong rule, the four sub-khanates of Xinjiang began sending Rohjade to Beijing, which later developed into a formal system of semi-annual tribute payments of 4000 Jin Rohjade, once in spring and once in autumn. At the height of this system, about 300,000 jin were delivered to Rohjade. In the 56th year of Qianlong rule, one tribute consisted of 5585 blocks of raw jade. The quality of the white jade stone on this impeccable teapot could have come from one of these tributes. Several examples of white jade teapots and covers dated to the Qing dynasty, are illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 10: Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, nos.131-135. See also a white jade teapot and cover, Qianlong, from the collection of Andrew K.F.Lee, illustrated in Virtuous Treasures: Chinese Jades for the Scholar's Table, Hong Kong, 2007, Catalogue, no.23 and compare a related white jade teapot and cover, Qianlong, but of plain exterior, sold at Woolley and Wallis, Salisbury, 18 May 2011, lot 471. - Tiny chips to tip of the spout

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