A RARE BAJIXIANG PALE CELADON JADE MARRIAGE BOWL, MID-QING

A RARE 'BAJIXIANG' PALE CELADON JADE MARRIAGE BOWL, MID-QING
China, 18th century. The interior boldly carved in relief with lingzhi and long, elegantly curved leaves. The deep rounded sides carved to the exterior with the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism (bajixiang) alternating with lotus sprays. The bowl is supported on four ruyi-shaped feet, the handles issuing from butterflies suspending foliate rings. The translucent stone is of a pale celadon tone with few russet and cloudy white inclusions.
Provenance:
The property of a Lady in Scotland, United Kingdom.
Condition:
Excellent condition with minor wear. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks over time.
Weight: 958.8 g
Dimensions: Width 24.5 cm (across handles)
This fine jade bowl
with its superbly carved butterfly handles belongs to the category of 'marriage' bowls alternatively carved with butterfly, bat, or dragon handles, popular in the Qing dynasty Imperial court. The two butterfly handles suspending loose rings in mirror image symbolize a 'joyful encounter' (Xi xiangfeng), and by extension marital happiness. Combined with the auspicious Eight Buddhist Emblems (bajixiang) - Pair of Fish, Victory Banner, Wheel of Dharma, Parasol, Lotus, Endless Knot, Treasure Vase, and Conch Shell - this would have been a particularly fitting present on the event of a wedding celebration.
The present bowl demonstrates the highly skilled craftsmanship achieved at the height of the Qing dynasty, during the celebrated Qianlong reign. This is exemplified in the
remarkable carving of the loose ring handles
and the evenly spaced Eight Buddhist Emblems on the exterior, finely balancing the symbolic embellishment of the exterior yet successfully allowing the fine quality of the pale celadon jade to show at the same time.
It is likely that the present bowl was carved after the Qianlong emperor's campaign for the pacification of the Dzungars and Xinjiang (1755-1759), as this campaign
secured control over the area of Khotan
, allowing direct access to greater quantities of larger-sized high quality jade and therefore for the production of generously proportioned carvings and vessels such as the present lot compared to previous periods. The sheer opulence of the present bowl is emphasized by the generous proportions of the well-hollowed interior, and the significant wastage of the prized jade stone in the carving of the flanking loose ring handles, thus creating a spatial depth of form. The four ruyi-shaped supports also raise the bowl, allowing a greater appreciation of the well carved borders and finely balanced suspended rings.
Literature comparison: For a related example of the use of butterfly handles see a white jade censer and cover with four butterfly handles suspending loose rings, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (II), Beijing, 2008, pl. 27. See also a related white jade 'marriage' bowl, Qianlong, illustrated in The Woolf Collection of Chinese Jade, London, 2013, no. 71; and a similar jade 'marriage' bowl, Qianlong, illustrated by Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 88. For related jade 'marriage' bowls from the Qing Court Collection, see Zhen Xinmiao, Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade, Qing Dynasty, vol.10, Beijing, 2010, pls. 180, 198 and 205.
Auction result comparison:
Compare a related pale celadon jade marriage bowl, similarly carved in relief with fish and
lingzhi to the interior
, also dated to the 18th century, at Christie's London in Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 14 May 2013, lot 28,
sold for GBP 385,875
. Compare also a closely related pale celadon jade marriage bowl, dated to the 18th century, supported on
ruyi-shaped feet
, and carved to the exterior with the bajixiang, at Christie's Hong Kong in Imperial Sale; Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 29 May 2013, lot 2336,
sold for HKD 930,000
, and another in white jade, dated to the Qianlong period, at Bonhams Hong Kong in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 4 June 2015, lot 56,
sold for HKD 937,500
.
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