A YELLOW JADE "CHILONG" VASE AND COVER

The shape of the current vase, with its C-scroll finial and pair of S-shaped handles, is inspired by archaic bronze vessels, in keeping with the prominent eighteenth-century theme of archaism and imitation in the arts. A yellow jade covered vase of a shape very similar to that of the current example, dated to the Qianlong period (1736-1795), but decorated with taotie and cicada motifs, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 42 - Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 181, no. 148. Also popular during the eighteenth century was the motif of dragons clambering around the sides of archaistic jade vases, as can be seen on another yellow jade vase and cover of slightly more elongated form, carved in high relief with comparable chilong, also in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 6, Qing, Hebei, 1991, p. 163, no. 241.