Covered jade bottle with two handles and motif of lotus scrolls

Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

Hotan white jade in Xinjiang province.（Hindustan ware）

Height: 27.9 cm

Width: 11. 2 cm

Weight: 745 g

Hardness: 6.5

This precious compressed bottle adopted Hotan white jade from Xinjiang province. It possessed the style of Hindustan ware in Qing dynasty and held the pattern of south Asia overspread the entire form, motif, and carving skill.

Hindustan was a place name in northern region of India. Emperor Qianlong of Qing dynasty fascinated its elegant clemency; therefore substantial jade wares in good quality from India and Turkey were passed to Xinjiang province in China and paid tribute to Forbidden City in Beijing.

On the basis of “History of Qing dynasty – biography of concubine”, 214th volume stated that emperor Qianlong married a noble girl from Uyghur clan in the 18th century. She was called Rong concubine from Hezhuo family and was the daughter of Hezhalai whose title was Taiji. It was said that she naturally exuded a strong fragrance and was called fragrant concubine. In virtue of this marriage, blend of eastern and western culture entered China through abundant Islamic artifacts.

The oval-shaped bottle mouth followed with straight neck and broad bottom. Tall and flared foot was a hollow cylinder with oval foot ring. The ware apparel was decorated with lotus scrolls in low relief. The lotus showed pointy petal with multiple layers and conjoint leaf scrolls. The two handle on both sides presented leaf scrolls in S shape. The lid with bud-shaped button was embellished with a circuit of flower and leaf patterns. All the decorative patterns displayed symmetry and meticulous refinement in style of Islamic feature.

The jade bottle was carved with Hotan white jade from Xinjiang province. It has hardness of 6.5, specific gravity of 2.90 to 3.02, and average refractive index of 1.62. The white jade presented exquisite texture, milky white in little bluish tone, and partial small black spots. Besides, yellowish brown spot glorified the pure white jade.

Low relief was applied on vivid motif of this ware. The lotus was designed with concave petal. Handles on both sides used open work. This ware revealed subtle crafts in every corner. Emperor Qianlong had a saying about his favor of the delicate skill of Hindustan jade ware. “Sophisticated craftsmanship of Hindustan jade ware is superior to those from Suzhou in China”

The magnification demonstrated well polishing. The tool mark of lotus petal was in alignment that answered to ancient handicraft. The intaglio line of leaf scrolls showed no broken lines by multiple carving strokes and marks of handmade trimming on the surrounding.

Screen stand with design of Kurukulle

Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

Yellow jade from Hotan

Height：44 cm

Width：25 cm

Hardness： 6.5.
(Enclosed certificate of FTIR scanning)

This wooden screen stand with marvelous carving showed flame-shaped rim and base with open work of double dragons in pursuit of pearl. It not only expressed amusing taste but symbol of exorcising evil spirits or praying for blessings. The center of screen was mounted with whole piece of precious yellow jade from Hotan in embossment. The translucent jade with moistness was in good quality and had been identified by FTIR scanning.

Hotan jade from Xinjiang province is a very rare jade. It has hardness of 6­ to 6.5, specific gravity of 2.80 to 3.10, refractive index of 1.61 to 1.63, and birefringence of 0.027. Moreover, there were magnificent features, comprising exquisite quality, top tenacity, hardly break, and abrasion resistance. The mild luster and clear translucency strengthen the great value of Hotan jade. Based on classification of the Hotan jade, yellow jade was much rare even through thousands of years. The value of yellow jade was competed with the best jade, lanolin white jade.

The embossment of yellow jade performed a unique female Buddha of Tibetan Buddhism, Kurukulle. She represented authority, power, and wisdom. Kurukulle was a dominant image and presented remarkable example of Buddhist devotional art. According to Tibetan Buddhism, practicing teachings of Kurukulle was able to enlighten wisdom, increase abundance of wealth, enlarge power, and etc. It was heard that the respectful emperor Qianlong used to practice the teachings.

Jade brush pot with sculpture of landscape and figures

Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Bluish white jade from Hotan of Xinjiang province

Width: 11 cm

Height: 16.4 cm

Weight: 1535 g.

The oval brush pot used bluish white jade from Hotan area in Xinjiang province and applied delicate embossment of landscapeand figure. This article displayed clear translucency, graceful taste, amusing expression, and enjoyment.

The brush pot was a compressed cylinder. It had oval mouth, flat bottom, margins on top and bottom outside. Full view of fantastic embossment was presented on exterior pot.

The carving depicted living departing scenery. A man riding a horse stopped on the bridge above the stream and was looking back. In front of the man, his pageboy was leading the road and carried roads with carrying pole. In back of the man, there was a woman standing on the stairs end to a pavilion. The woman put her palms together and prayed for blessings.

On the other side of scenery, landscape was consisted of mountainous stones, pavilion, pine trees, and wonderful outlook. A kid was playing flute and sitting on the back of a cattle. The other kid was holding a lotus leaf overhead and dragging the cattle with a rope. Overall, the carving fully expressed exquisite skill and vivid scenery.

Between late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and early Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

Lanolin white nephrite from Hotan.

Length: 24cm

Width: 22 cm

Height: 86 cm

Hardness：6.5

Hotan jade is situated the first place of Chinese jade. Hotan jade possessed mild and moist luster with glorified translucency, so held high value on the market. The tenacity bolstered meticulous carving fluently and distinctly.

Lanolin white jade was called due to its milky white color as lanolin and presented exquisite texture in sleekness. Lanolin white jade is the most precious breed among Hotan jades and is called king of all nephrite. It is scare and only from Hotan area in Xinjiang province.

Lanolin white jade was main material of this Buddha and fully gilded with gold. The Buddha displayed crystalline mildness, gentle exquisiteness, milky shade, and snowy whiteness. It performed imposing holiness. The Buddha featured by slender shape, bared feet on lotus base, noble crown, and orderly hair in tower-shaped bun. Demure light shined tenderly from the dainty face and downcast eyes. A white mole denominated “Baihao” placed in the middle of forehead. Delicate carving depicted facial features, such nose, lips, and ears. The perfectly chubby face softened with a light smile. The ears bore round floral earrings. Three rings were carved around the neck. Low relief shaped brief necklace of precious stones on the chest.

The long silk ribbon hung around the shoulder and was warped at the end. Each hand carried one “Chuan” (bracelet). Right hand cast down and left hand placed in front of chest uprightly. Both hands posed mudra, the symbolic gesture in Buddhist art. A skirt covered lower part of the body and tied a knot in front of the waist. The gather of cloth placed easily and smoothly as fishtail over lotus base.

It was scare to have gold-gilded jade with design of Tibetan Buddha in late Ming and early Qing dynasty. It not only applied Hotan jade but also techniques of relief, open work, and round carving. Well-executed skill and multiple skills on same ware fitted in with craftsmanship in mid-late period of Ming dynasty. Besides, the magnification displayed jade surface in exquisite quality and invisible polishing. The meticulous craft tallied with craft in Qing dynasty. It also demonstrated carving skill of Ming dynasty which had tailored and sturdy mark like intaglio lines in V shape. After all, this Buddha contained craftsmanship of Ming and Qing dynasties.

Gilding applied material like gold foil or gold mud that was mixture of gold and mercury. After applying gilding to embellish the ware surface, agate or jadeite were repeatedly pressed on the surface for smoothing and glazing the ware. In the early Qing dynasty, the court enacted mining ordinance about forbidding mining of gold and silver. Thus, the gold-gilded Buddha contained much amount of copper components and presented reddish golden color. Under the influence of environmental effects over three hundred years, the gilded gold showed rust marks in blue and green colors. Owing to aged time, the rusts penetrated into the inner directly and firmly.

Ancient white jade with design of auspicious deer holding Lingzhi

Yuan (1279-1368) and Ming (1279-1644) dynasties

White jade from Hotan.

Length: 32.3cm

Width: 7.7cm

Height: 22.1cm

Weight: 4230g.

The round carving (alto-rilievo) formed a deer in the process of standing. The deer had muscular legs that one hind leg in crouching and the other in extending. It also had traits of leaning forward body, plump chest, a pair of long antlers connected endways, long sturdy neck, and downward tail close to hips. he jade deer showed forward eyesight and guttiform eyes with upward canthus. The deer that was holding Lingzhi with the mouth. It also had two shallow nostrils, open mouth, revealed neat teeth, and upright ears. This distinct jade in three dimensions demonstrated natural, powerful, and lively style.

Deer was regarded as lucky animal and auspiciousness by the ancients. Lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) had been considered as symbol of luck and longevity since ancient time. Then, deer mouth with Lingzhi had meaning of happiness, prosperity, longevity, and luck.

Ancient white jade with design of monkey on horse back.

Lanolin white jade from Hotan

Early Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

Length: 21.5 cm

Width: 9.4 cm

Height: 15.3 cm

Weight: 3030 g.

(Enclosed with certificate of FTIR scanning)

Lanolin white jade presented creamy whiteness, delicate quality, and mild sleekness. It was the most precious breed among white jade from Hotan and regarded as king of nephrite.

This ancient white jade presented a crouching horse facing back. The horse had trait of upright ears. Four strong legs showed that one left foreleg stepped on floor and other three legs lied under the belly. The long tail on right side of the body was in curve. There was a monkey standing on the horse back. The horse and monkey applied tube boring method for round eyes which has upward canthus. The horse had open mouth and revealed teeth. It seemed like talking to the monkey. The vivid sculpture fully expressed amusing taste.

“Monkey on horse back” in Chinese was a common subject for jade carving and means blessing upon official success.

This sculpture adopted carving methods, such as round carving (Alto-rilievo), relief, openwork carving, and intaglio carving. The horse eyes used tube boring and pared by handiwork. The horse mane was carved with tiny and order intaglio lines. Base-relief carving skill was applied on neck and legs, and performs vivid muscle.

(Magnification of ooze-color and calcification at horse mane)