A white jade archaistic gong-form vessel and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period | 清乾隆 白玉仿古獸面紋夔柄觥

Notable for its archaistic form, this charming vessel is exquisitely worked after the archaic bronze wine vessel gong, a form which first appeared around the Shang dynasty. The present piece embodies the Qing imperial taste for antiquity. Gong is a rare shape among ancient bronze vessels, and it is even rarer to find archaistic jade vessels after this form. See a related gong with russet inclusions preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Li Jiu-fang, Chinese Jades throughout the Ages – Connoisseurship of Chinese Jades, vol. 11: Qing Dynasty, Chicago and San Francisco, 1996, pl. 45. Compare also a larger yellow jade vase worked after a gong vessel, resting atop a recumbent mythical beast, sold in these rooms, 3rd April 2018, lot 3636; and another yellow jade example, without its cover, deaccessioned from the Speed Art Museum in  Louisville and sold in our New York rooms, 24th March 2022, lot 204.