Beschreibung:

Lot details China, 13th-15th century. Of flattened form, the pear-shaped body rising from a spreading foot carved with a raised bow-string band, the waisted neck with archaistic dragons and whorl motifs. The semi-translucent stone of a pale celadon tone with russet veins, cloudy inclusions, and few dark specks, mostly reserved to one side of the vessel which has been further heightened with cinnabar lacquer (extremely rare) to imitate the natural patina of the bronze prototype, cleverly presenting the archaistic jade to one side and its ancient inspiration to the other. Exhibited: On loan to the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, September 1973 to September 1980. Provenance: From the collection of William S. Arnett, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, acquired prior to 1971, and thence by descent within the same family. William Sydney Arnett (1939-2020) was an Atlanta-based writer, editor, curator, and art collector who built an internationally important collection of African, Asian, and African-American art. In 1978, he co-authored the Three Rivers of Nigeria exhibition catalog for Atlanta's High Museum of Art. As Arnett's collection of African-American art grew, he became convinced that the so-called folk or outsider artists of the black American South were in fact a coherent cultural movement and constituted a crucial chapter in world art. He spent decades gathering extensive documentation and amassing a near-definitive collection of work crucial to the understanding of this cultural phenomenon. Condition: Excellent condition with minor old wear from centuries of handling. Some minuscule nibbling is probably part of the simulated overall wear inherent to the original carving. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks over time. Weight: 127.1 g Dimensions: Height 8.3 cm With a velvet-padded silk storage box. (2) The present vessel was inspired by an archaic ritual bronze prototype, zhi, which contained wine offerings presented to the ancestors during the performance of religious rituals. The interest of Chinese scholars in ancient artifacts can be traced back to antiquity, but the study of these artifacts, known as antiquarianism or jinshixue 金石學, literally meaning ‘the study of metals and stones,’ first developed during the Northern Song dynasty. The practice of collecting precious objects was spreading through China as well, and many lost pieces from the Shang dynasty and later were found at building sites. Song scholars established a formal system of dating these artifacts by examining their inscriptions, decorative motif styles, and physical shapes, introducing terms such as taotie which are still in use today. Two works of this period, the Kaogu tu by Lü Dalin and the Bogu tu by Wang Fu, were especially influential on later artists. Along with many other illustrated catalogs they were reprinted during the Ming and Qing dynasties, inspiring the production of archaic style bronzes and jades. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related jade zhi in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, dated to the Song dynasty, decorated with a similar band and bowstring, accession number 16.10. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 1 December 2016, lot 568 Price: HKD 437,500 or approx. EUR 59,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A small light brown jade miniature archaistic vase, hu, Song dynasty Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and decoration as well as related size (7.2 cm). Note the different color of the jade and that the vessel form was incorrectly identified as a hu. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Bonhams London, 11 May 2021, lot 137 Price: GBP 25,250 or approx. EUR 30,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: An archaistic white jade vessel, zhi, Ming dynasty Expert remark: Compare the related form and size (9 cm) as well as t