IMPORTANTE ET RARE COUPE EN JADE VERT, YIDynastie Yuan (1279-1368)/Début de la Dynastie Ming (1368-1644)AN IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE GREEN JADE POURING BOWL, YIYuan Dynasty/early Ming DynastyOf circular shape supported on a flat, slightly countersunk base, with gently rounded sides and lipped rim, set on one side with an angular outward flaring spout above a short cloud-scroll underneath, set on the other side with a triangular handle in the form of a pierced and openwork ribbon centered on a small peach, the stone a translucent, soft mottled green colour polished to a soft sheen. 21 cm (8 1/4 in) wide across handle and spout Footnotes:PROPERTY FROM A GERMAN FAMILY COLLECTION德國家族珍藏元/明早期 碧玉匜Provenance:Collected in China between 1894 and 1922, then handed down in the family by descent.來源於1894年至1922年間得自中國,後經家族流傳至今This green jade pouring vessel is incredibly rare and is one of the very few jade vessels made in the between the Song and early Ming dynasties. Jessica Rawson notes that the sheer extravagance involved in carving jade vessels may account for the absence of jade vessels in tombs of the pre-Han period, and the same reason may apply to the scarcity of jade vessels in tombs and hoards of the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming periods. In the early period, bronze technology enabled the production of highly complex vessels shapes and designs that were difficult to copy in jade, a material that did not lend itself to articulation or depth of decorative detail when carved. As the use of bronze vessels declined and ceramic wares with distinctive shapes and glazes gained in importance, the use of jade to fashion vessels of similar shapes and designs made in ceramic was still exceptional. Scholars have noted that the influence of Western and Central Asian metalware played an important role in the evolution of ceramic vessels and lacquerware made in the late Tang, Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties. In fact, this particular jade pouring vessel with its distinctive angular spout and flat openwork handle is an example that perfectly illustrates the links between metalware, ceramics and jade in the Song and Yuan period. This unusual spouted pouring vessel known as yi is a form that appeared both in ceramics and metal in the 14th century. Examples made in ceramic and porcelain are plentyful and well documented, see, for instance, a Yuan dynasty celadon-glazed Longquan pouring cup yi excavated in Taishun county, Zhejiang, illustrated in Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 2014, no. 148-2; compare also with a blue and white pouring vessel of this shape in the collection of the British Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 69, fi. 1:21; see also a Yuan dynasty blue and white spouted bowl excavated in Lintao County, Gansu Province, illustrated in Splendors in Smalt: Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, pp. 148-149, no.42, lot 17, and an underglaze-red pouring vessel of this type published in Shane McCausland,The Mongol Century. Visual Cultures of Yuan China, 1271-1368, London, 2014, pp. 82-83, no. 24. The Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty took over the ceramic tradition of the kilns that flourished in southern China. They appropriated many of the existing ceramic shapes and designs to fit their taste and needs. The small loop beneath the spout of the ceramic pouring vessels is a reminder that in the nomadic tradition and culture similar vessels were hung from the belts of the Mongol horsemen owners. The angular spout and the sharp lipped rim of this jade pouring vessel demonstrate that the form originally derived from metal prototypes as a silver pouring bowl inscribed with the year 1333 and excavated from a hoard in Hefei, Anhui, shows, see The World of Khublai Khan. Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, New York, 2010, p. 83, fig. 115. Compare also with a related Yuan dynasty silver pouring bowl in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, published in Hiromi Kinoshita, Art of China. Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 2018, p. 82. In Yuan culture, such pouring vessels were used to pour wine into smaller cups. and often appear together with yuhuchunping vases as Chuimei Ho observed in 'Social Life under the Mongols as seen in Ceramics', in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol.59, 1994-95, p. 44. A mural discovered in the tomb of Zhang Andabuhua and his wife Li Yunxian, in Dongercun, Shaanxi, dated 1269, shows a table full of wine cups, a vase and a pouring vessel (Fig. 2). While this green jade pouring vessel is clearly related to Yuan dynasty ceramic and metalware examples, it is different from these rare silver examples as it also has a distinct triangular handle facing the spout on the other side of the vessel. This feature appears on three other rare jade vessels of similar shallow form but without a spout and described as cups, two dated to the Song dynasty, and the third to the Yuan dynasty, all three in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Jade. 5: Tang , Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, Beijing, 2011, nos. 62, 63 and 268 (Fig. 3).This unusual green jade pouring vessel appears to be unique as no other comparable piece is known. Closely related types of vessels made of silver and jade are equally scarce and suggest that not many were made. Known examples share different features meaning that they may have been individual commissions, luxury commodities reserved for members of the Yuan elite.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com