A FINE AND RARE IMPERIAL WHITE JADE ARCHAISTIC 'PHOENIX' VESSEL, GONG Qianlong (2)A FINE AND RARE IMPERIAL WHITE JADE ARCHAISTIC 'PHOENIX' VESSEL, GONGQianlongIn imitation of an archaistic bronze gong, finely carved with stylised phoenix panels on both sides, standing on a slightly splayed foot, carved below the lipped rim with a phoenix head suspending a loose ring, the faceted handle well carved with a playful chi dragon with its head and a paw resting on the rim, its sinuous body coiled through the handle, the translucent stone of an attractive milky-white tone with an area of amber inclusion below the lipped rim, box. 20.2cm (8in) high. (2).清乾隆 白玉仿古龍鳳呈祥觥Provenance:Hartman Rare Art, New York, 8 February 1993 (invoice)來源:紐約古董商Hartman Rare Art，1993年2月8日（發票）The present jade vessel is most impressive for its size and the attractive milky-white tone. It belongs to a small group of jade vessels made in the Qianlong period imitating Shang and Zhou dynasty bronze wine vessels, gong, made only for the nobility to use. A few closely related jade vessels are preserved, see a Qing dynasty 'dragon and phoenix' jade gong in the Beijing Palace Museum with similar phoenix head suspending a loose ring and the archaistic style of the phoenix feathers, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Jade, Beijing, 2011, vol.10, p.119, pl.86; a mid Qing jade 'phoenix and dragon handle' gong and a mid Qing jade 'kui dragon' gong, illustrated by Yang Boda, Zhongzhongguo yuqi quanji, Shijiazhuang, 2005, nos.37 and 40; a Qing dynasty white jade 'dragon handle' gong in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Later Chinese Jades: Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century, San Francisco, 2007, p.183, pl.186; and another two white jade 'dragon' gong similarly decorated with phoenix head suspending a loose ring and a dragon handle, included in the 1934 Yamanaka & Co. exhibition, illustrated by Yamanaka Yuzuru and Jin Liyan in the Compilation of Chinese Works of Art through the Dealings of Yamanaka & Co. Ltd., Shanghai, 2020, vol.2, pp.682 and 692, nos.844 and 845.Bronze gong vessels were recorded in Imperial Archives as bronze yi vessels. The original form and design for the present jade gong vessel would have been an archaic bronze wine vessel known as the Zhou li yi, illustrated in Xiqing gujian [Catalogue of Chinese ritual bronzes in the collection of the Qianlong Emperor], compiled by Imperial decree in the 16th year of Qianlong period (1751), vol.33, p.12; it is recorded in the Imperial Archives that in the 19th year of the Qianlong period (1754), there was a white jade archaistic 'dragon and phoenix' yi vessel consistent to the present lot sent to the Palace as a tribute, mentioned in Qinggong ciqi dangan quanji [Complete archives on porcelains for the Qing palace], Beijing, 2004, vol.4, p.180.Compare also with a related Qianlong Imperial white jade 'phoenix' gong vessel, which was sold in these rooms, 29 May 2018, lot 27.觥尖唇，平沿，侈口，束頸，頸前端浮雕鳳首啣環，扁鼓腹，後端鏤空雕方鋬，另圓雕一螭龍攀附鋬上，頸部及觥身淺浮雕仿古鳳鳥紋，與圓雕鳳首連作一體，圈足外撇，足圈直緣。 北京故宮藏一件清代青玉龍鳳紋觥與本件頗似，其鳳首啣環及仿古風格鳳羽毛處理與本件如出一轍，見《故宮博物院藏品大系·玉器編》，北京，2011年，卷10，頁119，編號86。一件清中期和田玉鳳飾龍柄觥與本件設計頗似，另一件清中期和闐玉夔龍紋觥亦屬同類風格可資比較，見楊伯達編，《中國玉器全集》，石家莊，2005年，編號37，40。舊金山亞洲藝術博物館藏一件清代白玉龍紋鋬觥也可比較之，見《Later Chinese Jades: Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century》，舊金山，2007年，頁183，編號186。日本山中商會1934年曾展出兩件白玉龍紋觥亦資參考，俱是鳳啣活環，龍形鋬，見山中讓、金立言編，《山中商會經手中國藝術品資料彙編》，上海，2020年，卷2，頁682及692，編號844及845。此玉觥為乾隆朝仿古佳作，取樣自商代青銅觥。觥為商周重要酒器，唯高級貴族可用。青銅觥於清宮檔案中稱為「匜」，可參考《西清古鑒》中著錄一件周利匜，實為觥，其鋬為龍首，身飾鳳紋，可為本件玉觥之原型參考，見清代梁詩正等編，《西清古鑒》，北京，乾隆十六年（1751年），卷33， 頁12。乾隆時期以商周古器為原型製作玉器，直接出自皇帝本人要求。乾隆有感於「新樣」之繁複淫巧，認為需要恢復三代古器之肅穆。在專為一件和闐玉夔首匜而作的詩中他寫道：「和闐玉來夥，巧製頗紛如。漸欲引之古，庶其返以初。為匜肖周代，作器戒虛車。流鋬考工合，敦牟介紹諸。」此詩頗為詳盡解釋了乾隆製作仿古玉器之原由及設計初衷。上行下效，臣工得悉皇帝尚好之後，便也開始蒐羅進貢此類仿古玉器，如清宮舊檔中記載乾隆十九年貢檔進單便有「白玉龍鳳呈祥花匜」一件，見《清宮瓷器檔案全集》，北京，2004年，卷4，頁180。香港邦瀚斯2018年5月29日售出一件清乾隆御製白玉夔鳳紋觥與本件龍鳳觥屬同類仿古玉器，可參詳之，拍品編號27。