A LARGE CELADON JADE ‘CARP’ WATERPOT

QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG YUWAN MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1735-1796)

LENGTH: 21.2CM

The waterpot is deftly worked in the form of a carp fish with a generous bulbous body with curling dorsal and pectoral fins and terminating in a ruyi shaped fanned tail. Its scaled body is well-hollowed with a rounded square aperture and its head is detailed with large round eyes, puckered lips and curled whiskers. The stone is of an even pale celadon tone with russet veins, inscribed under its neck with a four-character ‘Qianlong yuwan’ mark 乾隆御玩 (“Imperial Plaything of the Qianlong Emperor”). The wood stand is carved with tumultuous swirling waves.

SIMILAR EXAMPLE

A Mughal-style jade ‘chrysanthemum’ washer from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, also bearing a Qianlong yuwan 乾隆御玩 mark, is included in the exhibition catalogue Emperor Ch’ien-lung’s Grand Cultural Enterprise 乾隆皇帝的文化大業, Taipei, 2002, p. 204, Catalogue No. V-42, where the author quoted that such mark was usually used by the Qianlong emperor on tribute jades or jades from the preceding reigns.