A white jade 'magnolia' vase


Qianlong/JiaqingCrisply carved as three tall magnolia blossoms issuing from a single curling stem, each blossom formed by layers of overlapping petals and the larger two with the petal tips beginning to curl away from the centre of the opening flower revealing a hollow vase, wood stand. 11.4cm (4 1/2in) high.
|清乾隆/嘉慶 白玉玉蘭花插Provenance: acquired probably from Louis Joseph, London, prior to 20 August 1968Bonhams London, 10 November 2016, lot 74A distinguished Hong Kong private collection來源： 或於1968年8月20日前，購自古董商倫敦Louis Joseph倫敦邦瀚斯，2016年11月10日，拍品編號74香港顯貴私人收藏The magnolia is a symbol of purity, making it extremely suitable as a subject for carving from this piece of fine white jade. This combination of white jade forming a white magnolia also embodies a particularly apt pun on the name for the flower (yulan 玉蘭) which incorporates the word for jade (yu 玉).Compare with a related but larger white jade magnolia vase illustrated in The Woolf Collection of Chinese Jade, London, 2013, no.78.