Bottle ID: 125

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PHOENIX WINGS

Date: 1740-1800

Height: 51 mm

Nephrite, white, very well hollowed, carved in low relief to depict an archiac stylized phoenix with a wing on each main side and its head turned back across the shoulders.
Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

 

Similar Examples:

JICSBS, Spring 2006, p. 42, fig. 8. [W-A]
Sotheby's, New York, September 14, 2010, lot 76, The Joe Grimberg Collection.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Sotheby's, New York, November 26, 1991, lot 145
Mr. and Mrs. Lionel Rosenberg

The Qianlong Emperor took a direct interest in the development of jade carving. This led to what has been termed “ Imperial interference” and this can be clearly seen in the Emperor's writings at this time. In a poem written in 1787 the Emperor Qianlong describes a piece made by the Suzhou carvers thus:

"This square hu (vase) with ring handles suspended from animal lugs on the neck is modeled after a han piece. It is so primitive and unsophisticated; all the trivialities are gone".

The archaistic nature of pieces like this elegant snuff bottle, and the vase the Emperor complained about, along with other carvings manufactured in Suzhou are more in keeping with the classical Imperial taste of the court than in the busy detailed style we have come to associate with the Suzhou carvers through snuff bottles.

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