Jade Love — Time Slip to the Qing Imperial Court

As the old Chinese saying goes “Gold has a value while jade is invaluable.” This jewel is very special in Chinese culture, whose development is closely linked to that of China’s etiquette system and civilization from the cultural and historical perspectives.
Among the major kinds of Chinese jade, Hetian nephrite is known as the national jade. It is an important carrier of Confucius morality and traditional culture used to make sacrificial vessels in ritual or military ceremonies. So-called Chinese jade culture nowadays is actually the culture of Hetian nephrite.
For thousands of years, jade had been the physical manifestation of spiritual virtue, the embodiment of all that is most desirable: beauty, grace, purity, perfection, power and immortality, reflecting many Chinese beliefs and values in ancient China.
In ancient times, as today, jade was also used for furnishing articles, ornaments and personal adornments: jade rings, bracelets, pendants, combs. Watery, translucent, often exquisitely carved and with gentle greenish or a white sheen, items made of this kind of beautiful stone were quite popular at the imperial court. From collections used in the Qing (1644 – 1911 AD) court, we can see the purity and nobility of Chinese jade culture.

Jade Lion

Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD)
Height: 1.5 cm, length: 6 cm, width: 4.5 cm

The recumbent beast is carved in the round, with his massive head finely detailed with bulbous eyes below prominent spiral eyebrows and curled fur swept, the stone of a well-polished creamy white tone with minor russet inclusions. A similar shaped tri-colour glazed pottery excavated from underway palace of FaMeng Temple of the Tang Dynasty in Xi’an can prove that these two handcrafts were of the same period.

Jade Comb Enchased with Flowers and Birds Tang dynasty (618 – 907 AD)
Length: 10.5 cm, width: 3.5 cm, thickness: 0.4 cm

Hemicycle jade comb was made of white jade with a slight cyan in it, enchased with three flowers in the middle of the outer arc and a bird on each side. Below the arc is the fine comb teeth set close together. In the Tang Dynasty, apart from being used to comb one’s hair, combs were often used on the head as ornamentation. This short-teeth comb is very thin with slim teeth, conjectured to be ornamentation.

Jade Censer Sculptured with Cloud and Dragon

Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD)
Height: 7.9 cm, mouth diameter: 12.8 cm

The round censer made of steel-gray sapphire has a bulging body with a pair of animal-head handles on it. On the exterior wall, there incised with patterns of flying dragon, lucky clouds and seawater waves. Its interior bottom is incised with a poem by the Qianlong Emperor.
It was very popular to enjoy and appreciate antiquities in the Song Dynasty, and the research on bronzes yielded a rich harvest. Thus a new shape category of jade ware gradually derived from the former ones, imitated jade ware of ancient bronze style. This one was modeled after a bronze Gui (a kind of food vessel), yet much changed on forms and ornament patterns, and the material used was no longer yellow colored.

Grey Jade Pei in the form of a Pair of Cranes

Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD)
Length: 6.8 cm, width: 4.3 cm

White with cyan sheen, the jade ornamentation was smooth textured with grease-like luster. Two connecting cranes formed a circle in general shape, face to face, claws to claws, and they were spreading their wings as if to soar away. On the top there was a little hole for thread to be fastened to clothes. Cranes are seen as an auspicious sign in Taoism, to which Emperor Huizong of the Song was an adherent.

Jade Bi with Nine Chi Design

Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD)
Diameter: 20.4 cm, aperture: 5.8 cm, thickness: 2 cm

The bi is a form of circle jade disc with a round hole in the center, which testifies to the concentration of power and resources in the hands of a small group of elite in ancient China. This bi was dark grey with yellow spots, one side decorated with vortex design, another side carved nine chi designs in relieve. The chi in the middle hole was dragon faced, playing a fire ball with one of its claws, five other small-head chi circling it. Another three were on the edge of the disc, facing one side while hind limbs and tail on the other side. Chi was believed in ancient China a kind of dragon, and the decorative pattern was widely used on jade bi after the Song and Yuan (1271 – 1368 AD) Dynasties.

Twin-barrel Jade Brushpot in the Form of Bamboo and Peach Stalks

Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD)
Height: 21.9 cm, large diameter: 5.5 – 6 cm, small diameter: 4.5 – 4.7 cm

This fine Chinese twin-barrel jade brushpot is made of celadon jade in the form of bamboo and peach stalks, connected by a peach branch. The taller “bamboo pot” was attached by two ganoderma lucidums at the root, while the shorter “peach pot” was decorated by peach fruits, branches and leaves, with an orchid at the bottom.
Brushpot is a basic piece of article for ancient Chinese scholars to hold brush or other things, and some magnificently carved ones made of rare materials are also perfect decorations and treasured items. The design of bamboo, peach, orchid and ganoderma lucidum represented morality and virtue of the scholar.

Jade Gui with Stria and Animal-head Handles

Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD)
Height: 8.8 cm, Mouth diameter: 13.2 cm, Foot diameter: 9.4 cm

The round jade gui differs in design and text engraved on the surface from those of the Shang and Zhou that were widely used as food vessels. Beginning in the Ming Dynasty, such gui was a common decoration among upper classes and also could hold incense for burning. Sculpted with patterns of clouds and delicately grooved curling grass, the rosewood cover was matched to this gui during the Qing, together with an excellently engraved jade piece made in the Yuan as button on the top, the whole is circulating a thick noble and luxurious atmosphere.