A rare white jade 'bats' double washer, Qing dynasty, 18th century | 清十八世紀 白玉五福捧壽雙連洗

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st May 1991, lot 317.

香港蘇富比1991年5月1日，編號317

A Romance with Jade: From the De An Tang Collection, Yongshougong, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004, cat. no. 17.

《玉緣：德安堂藏玉》，永壽宮，故宮博物院，北京，2004年，編號17

The design of the present washer resembles a group of Imperial jade vessels popular in the Qing dynasty imperial court and variously carved with bats, butterfly, dragon or floral handles, sometimes referred to as ‘marriage’ bowls. The pair of bats with shou-character medallions represent fu shou shuang quan, or 'May you have plentiful prosperity and longevity'. 

Conjoined or twin designs in jade are rare and would have been extremely difficult to make given the hardness of the stone. Compare a similar double washer, Qianlong period, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, accession no. C.1120&A-1917. See also another related white jade quatrefoil double washer, Mid-Qing period in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Yang Boda, Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jades], Hebei, 2005, pl. 320. Compare also a related white jade ‘dragon’ washer, Mid-Qing period, without the conjoined design but showing a similarly fashioned beaded edge to the mouth, illustrated in ibid., pl. 313.

白玉微泛青，洗為雙圓相連接式，口沿雕連珠紋，兩側有蝙蝠形耳，蝙蝠銜環，環上刻「壽」字，環下系有長帶，洗外壁淺浮雕如意雲頭及蝙蝠。整體造型新穎獨特，寓意福壽雙全。

雕刻製作此類雙連式玉洗，然對玉匠雕刻技藝亦有較高要求，倫敦維多利亞和艾伯特博物館藏有一例類似的清乾隆白玉雙連洗，除雙耳為花形，其造型及連珠式口沿均與本拍品類似，博物館編號C.1120&A-1917。類似設計的玉洗在清宮舊藏中也有例證，可見當時受到宮廷喜愛，如北京故宮博物院藏一件清中期和田玉海棠式雙蝠耳活環洗，著錄於楊柏達，《中國玉器全集》，河北，2005年，圖版320。另見一清中期和田玉蟠龍耳洗，雖非雙連式，但口沿亦作連珠式樣，見上述出處，圖版313。