A fine spinach jade censer and cover. Qing dynasty, 18th-19th century

A fine spinach jade censer and cover. Qing dynasty, 18th-19th century

the rectangular body with projecting tubular corners each terminating in short waisted foot, finely carved around the exterior with an archaistic band of interlocking snakes above shou characters and archaistic strapwork, set to either end with a taotie mask handle suspending a loose ring, the similarly shaped cover surmounted by a large reticulated coiled dragon finial, the stone of apple-green tone with dark flecks. 11.5cm., 4 1/2 in. Est. 5,000—7,000 GBP. Lot Sold 20,000 GBP

NOTE: Censers of this form were popular in the Qing courts, particularly during the reigns of the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. See a very similar spinach-green jade censer in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol. 6, Shijiazhuang, 1993, pl. 89; one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Masterworks of Chinese Jade in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1969, pl. 42; another illustrated in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades form the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 74; and a fourth censer, from the Concordia House Collection, sold in our New York rooms, 19^th March 2007, lot 16.

Compare also a white jade vessel of this type in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware III, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 156; and two vessels in the Avery Brundage collection, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, published in Rene-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argence, Chinese Jades in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1977, pl. LV.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 13 May 09. London www.sothebys.com