In Pursuit of the Picturesque: Jades from the Qianlong Era in the Minneapolis Institute of Art
The reign of Qianlong (r. 1735–96) marked the most glorious period in the long history of jade production in China. The stable imperial power and unprecedented prosperity created an environment in which jade carving could flourish (Rawski, 2006). The patronage of the court further contributed to the demand of finely crafted jade objects: Qianlong himself stood as the greatest patron of jade production in China’s history (Wen C. Fong, 1996; Holzwarth, 2006).
This period also witnessed a level of artistic virtuosity and technical brilliance that remains unmatched in the history of Chinese jade carving. The jades produced during Qianlong’s reign are characterized by the fineness of material, extreme delicacy of carving, extraordinary craftsmanship, and variety and complexity of theme and design (Watt, 1980; Lawson, 1995; Liu, 2007). Although a preference for pure and flawless white jade remained strong, the abundant supply of good-quality stone permitted flexible selection of other colours, tones, and textures. The discovery of the more richly coloured Burmese jadeite provided new avenues for creative expression. In aesthetics, the pursuit of the picturesque in jade had become the height of fashion, for the most part as a result of Qianlong’s advocacy. Qianlong esteemed the picturesque quality of the jade, calling it ‘mood of painting’ (huayi 畫意). He demanded that all carved panels and boulders (known as ‘jaded mountains’) that were crafted as facsimiles of famous paintings should carry the spirit of these paintings. In his numerous poems, written as inscriptions for his favourite works in jade, Qianlong often refers to their perfect integration of material and design, often using aesthetic and critical terms that were normally reserved for discussing paintings (Yang, 1993; Yang, 1992; Liu, 2007, pp. 28–30). For instance, on a jade sculpture carved in 1773 known as ‘Ladies in the Shadow of Wutong Trees’, now in the Palace Museum collection in Beijing (Liu, 2007, pp. 204–05, pl. 143) (Fig. 1a-b), he asked his craftsman to incise his own inscription and a poem written by himself on the underside of the base, expressing his delight at the ingenuity of this work (Fig. 2). The inscription reads: ‘A bowl was hollowed out from a lump of jade from Khotan. The craftsmen at the workshop in Suzhou used the discarded material and cleverly converted it into a marvellous painting [tu 圖]. Thus there was no scrap but a masterpiece’ (和闐貢玉，規其中作碗，吳工就余材琢成是圖，既無棄物，又完璞玉。御識。) In the inscribed poem, he highlights the painterly quality of the jade again by making an analogy between the jade and paintings. He claims that the jade possesses the character of the typical Southern Song paintings in which visual interest is focused in a corner of the work (known as the ‘one-corner’ composition). (The poem in Chinese: 相材取碗料，就質琢圖形。剩水殘山境，桐蔭蕉軸庭。女郎相顧問，匠氏運心靈。義重無棄物，贏他泣楚廷。乾隆癸己新秋御題。) (Liu, 2007, pp. 204–05, pl. 143; Yang, 1993, p. 68). While a Southern Song painting with such a compositional scheme is redolent of a poetic melancholy that hints at the decay of dynasty, Qianlong may only refer to both works’ neat fit of elements into small spaces to suggest a unification of space.
Figs 1a-b Decorative boulder carved with design of a lady standing by a door
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736–1795)
White jade with russet brown patches; 15.5 x 25 x 11 cm
Palace Museum, Beijing
During Qianlong’s reign, under patronage of the court, important jade industrial centres were established in Beijing, Suzhou, and Yangzhou (the latter two in present-day Jiangsu province), each specializing in different areas of carving, such as large-scale objects, archaic jades, and works in a Hindustani style. In addition, a dozen more centres located in the lower Yangzi river delta were controlled by the imperial authorities, and a jade workshop under the supervision of an office known as the Bureau of Works was established at court. The patronage of the court and the establishment of the official workshops contributed to the realization of Qianlong’s demand. A great number of finely crafted jade objects from the imperial workshops provide the best examples exhibiting the picturesque quality discussed above. Paintings in the imperial collection often provided models for particular jade pieces. Qianlong often asked his craftsmen to carve his own inscriptions and poems on these works, mostly in prominent positions, expressing his delight at the ingenuity of these works, as well as advocating his idea of the picturesque.
The imperial influence was forceful, and the ruling class dominated fashions of arts with courtly taste. There can be no doubt that the new aesthetics in jade carving defined by the imperial court would naturally be followed by the common craftsmen when they were commissioned to make jade artefacts. It was under the strong influence of the imperial court that the new methods approaching jade carvings contributed widely to establishing a new fashion in the jade industry.
Fig. 2 Qianlong’s poem incised on the underside of the decorative boulder shown in Fig. 1
The successful adaptation of the flower-and-bird theme into jade compositions endowed these works with a refined picturesque quality. This can be seen on a number of vases and kettles that bear shallow reliefs of flower-and-bird painting, as demonstrated by a late-18th-century nephrite vase in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) (Figs 3–4). Here the compositions of the two circular registers are quite similar. They are composed in a conventional manner, as we often see in the contemporary flower-and-bird paintings, with eroded taihu rocks in the centre, emerging behind leaves and blossoms, in this case, a species of day lily (Hemerocallis graminea; in Chinese, xuancao 萱草). The popularity of this flower in painting is supported by its symbolism associated with women; while it implies the idea of fertility and the bearing of sons, it is also said to be capable of taking away the sting of one’s sorrow. In the floral composition carved on this vase, there is a great emphasis on the curves of the plants. The traditional treatises required that in painting plants and flowers, flowers from the herbaceous family should be treated differently from those in the tree family. The herbaceous blossoms and stalks should be painted so as to convey a feeling of flexibility and grace (wumei 嫵媚) and is thus distinguished from the splendor and imposing quality (fuli 富麗) of the tree flowers (Liu, 2000). As the design here was based on painting, the flowers are obviously composed to correspond with such a painting aesthetic.
On a pair of circular table screens, carved on both sides with designs of birds, insects, and flowers, the sinuous and graceful depictions of the subjects are set off by the vivacious spinach-green jade (Figs 5–8). The beauty and sensibility of the flowers and bird are well captured in the combination of visual and cultural overtones. On one disc (Fig. 5), for instance, the composition features a distinctive phoenix with a blossoming sunflower (taiyanghua 太陽花). Known as ‘phoenix faces the sun’ (danfeng chaoyang 丹鳳朝陽), this conventional design (since the Tang dynasty) symbolises auspiciousness and propitiousness. On another picture (Fig. 8), a bird with long tail known as shoudai :綬帶鳥(Terpsiphone incei) perches on a branch of the camellia tree. The combination of the bird and flower forms an expression of chunguang changshou 春光長壽, implying a wish for long life. The pun comes from the word shou :綬, which is a homophone for the word for longevity (shou 壽), while the camellia blooms in spring.
Figs 3-4 Vase
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1735–96)
Pale green jade, 20.5 x 15.2 x 4.1 cm
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Anonymous Gift (95.119)
The 18th century also witnessed jade craftsmen’s diligent exploitation of representational techniques in a variety of ways. Sometimes flower-and-bird subjects are depicted on jade with fine lines, a brush technique known as baimiao 白描, commonly used for figure painting, in which precise description is important. A good example is an emerald-green jade vase from the MIA collection (Figs 9–10). The vase mimics a porcelain moon flask (baoyue ping 抱月瓶), a form favoured by Qianlong. The oval neck is applied with foliate handles, and the painting on one side of the circular body focuses on the two cranes perched beside the pine trees. On the other side, the composition is very similar, differentiating only in the animals: a pair of deer replaces the two cranes. The motifs and composition on the vase is standard for a type of painting popular in the Ming and Qing period, executed to express auspicious blessing as well as to celebrate an old man’s longevity; an example is a hanging scroll by a court painter of the Ming dynasty, Bian Jingzhao (active c. 1426–35) (Liu, 2000, pp. 24–25, pl. 2). All the motifs are auspicious: pine is a robust evergreen, which is capable of withstanding the snows of winter; the crane is a bird symbolic of long life; and the deer implies an allusion to wealth (from the similarity of the word for deer lu to the sound of lu 祿 meaning ‘official salary’). The crane, deer, and pine tree customarily form a grouping known as ‘crane and deer sharing the spring’ (helu tongchun 鶴鹿同春), suggesting a blessing for prosperous life and longevity. To enhance the tone of wealth and nobility, the fine line drawings are etched with gold.
Figs 5-6 Circular table screen
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1735–96)
Green jade, 0.64 x 21.27 x 21.27 cm
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Augustus L. Searle (34.21.2)
Figs 7-8 Circular table screen
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1735–96)
Green jade, 0.64 x 21.27 x 21.27 cm
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Augustus L. Searle (34.21.3)
The character of carving blossoms and stalks to convey a feeling of flexibility and grace, an aesthetic inspired by paintings, is also reflected in some 18th-century jade utensils carved in openwork. An exquisitely covered vase, also from the MIA collection, consists of a large deeply hollowed lotus flower delicately supported by an elaborate openwork base of stems, tendrils, leaves, and flowers of the lotus pierced and carved in the full round (Figs 11–13). The large inward-curving lotus leaf with clearly defined veins forms a lovely vessel. The slender tendrils are sensitively worked, and a wagtail standing in the covert further animates the work. On the top, the intricate cover completes the entire composition: while the lid itself consists of an upside-down lotus leaf with veins in relief, two confronting wagtails standing among lotus stalks and seedpods serve as a lively knob. The work vividly demonstrates the technical virtuosity and artistry achieved in jade carving during the 18th century. It is most successful in its sensitive rendering of the material; its delicately contoured and thinly carved leaves attest to the high quality of its craftsmanship and allow full appreciation of the serene charm of the pure white nephrite. As with many jade objects of this era, the wooden stand, decorated with openwork lotus seedpod and leaves, relates both in theme and style to the stone it supports.
In his poem and inscription incised on the sculpture, ‘Ladies in the Shadow of Wutong Trees’, Qianlong praised the craftsmen’s clever use of raw nephrite. Indeed, in addition to the prominent relief work and its strong composition, the natural colour in the stone gives this object a powerful presence. The russet skin of the pebble has been incorporated into the composition to reflect the autumnal colour, as well as to create a warm glow for the eye and to delight the touch. Qianlong believed retaining the natural colour in the stone helps to enhance the picturesque quality. For instance, in the 28th year of his reign (1763), he ordered his craftsmen to turn a nephrite with multiple colours into a sculpture of a crane. He marvels at the finished sculpture that has an external colour of red while elsewhere it is white: ‘I wonder if it is the cinnabar that gives the charm to this painting’ (紅為外章白內體，訝是勾砂成畫帛。) (Yang, 1993, pp. 67–68).
Figs 9-10 Vase
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1735–96)
Green jade, 34 x 22.5 cm
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Gift of Mr and Mrs Augustus L. Searle (32.47.5)
With the empire regaining control over central Asia in the mid-18th century, the supply of high quality nephrite from the Khotan region became secure. The abundant supply of good material permitted judicious selection for colours, tone, and texture. During the same time, the discovery of richer coloured jadeite and agate also provided new avenues for Chinese craftsmen to realize their fantastic imaginations. An 18th-century flower vase from the MIA collection is carved in deep undercut and openwork from a single piece of agate (Figs 14–15). The craftsman has converted its white half into three finger citrons or ‘Buddha’s hands’: two smaller fruits are attached to a primary one. Another part of the stone, the red half, was carved into gnarled stalks and leaves, containing three pomegranates, three peaches, and a blossom. In addition, exquisite openwork is skillfully combined with striking colours and uses red and white agate to great effect, cleverly integrating the white mottling and flaws on the primary red part into the design of the pomegranate’s exposing seeds. Seemingly, a red mottling on the white component was turned into a bat.
Figs 11-13 Covered vase
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1735–96)
Pure white jade, height 20.32 cm
Minneapolis Institute of Art, The John R. Van Derlip Fund and Gift of the Thomas Barlow Walker Foundation (92.103.19a–b)
In addition to exploiting the variety of colour existing in one piece of stone, craftsmen of the mid-Qing also utilized the combination of jade, jadeite, and agate with other precious material such as ivory, gold, or other hard stones. A jade water coupe from the MIA collection, dating from the late 18th century, consists of a large central lotus pod with smaller pods and several buds entwining at the sides (Figs 16–17). The central lotus pod has a small opening covered by a green jadeite stopper with a frog. Here, realistic lotus blossoms and pods of white jade combine harmoniously with their green, leafy support of carved and tinted ivory. The green jade frog stopper adds a bit of humour to the total composition. The lotus, although long a Buddhist symbol of spiritual purity, is exploited here for its decorative potential.
As demonstrated by this water coupe and the covered vase (Figs 11–13), important pieces of jade now were fitted with display stands when they were made, and the stand itself, made in wood or other precious stones, became an indispensable component of the composition.
Figs 14–15 Flower vase
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1735–96)
Agate, 10.8 x 12.7 cm
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Augustus L. Searle (35.21a,b)
Liu Yang is Head of Chinese, South and Southeast Asian Art Department and Curator of Chinese Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
This article is the first in a series of three.
Selected Bibliography
Wen C. Fong, ‘Imperial Patronage of the Arts Under the Ch’ing’, in Wen C. Fong & James C. Y. Watt, eds, Possessing the Past: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996.
Wen C. Fong & James C. Y. Watt, eds., Possessing the Past: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996.
Gerald Holzwarth, ‘The Qianlong Emperor as Art Patron and the Formation of the Collections of the Palace Museum, Beijing’, in Evelyn S. Rawski and Jessica Rawson, eds, China: The Three Emperors 1662–1795, London, 2006, pp. 41–53.
Jessica Lawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995.
Evelyn S. Rawski, ‘The “Prosperous Age”: China in the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong Reigns’, in Evelyn S. Rawski and Jessica Rawson, eds, China: The Three Emperors 1662–1795, London, 2006, pp. 22–40.
Evelyn S. Rawski and Jessica Rawson, eds, China: The Three Emperors 1662–1795, London, 2006.
Liu Yang, Translucent World: Chinese Jade from the Forbidden City, Sydney, 2007.
Liu Yang, Fragrant Space: Chinese Flower and Bird Painting of the Ming and Qing Dynasties from the Guangdong Provincial Museum, Sydney, 2000.
James Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, New York, 1980.
Yang Boda, ‘Qing Qianlongdi yuqiguan chutan’ (A preliminary discussion of the Qianlong emperor’s view on jade), Bulletin of the Palace Museum 4 (1993): 60–70.
Yang Boda, ‘Jade: Emperor Ch’ien Lung’s collection in the Palace Museum, Peking’, Arts of Asia 3/4 (1992): 81–84.
Fig. 16 Water coupe
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1735–96)
White nephrite, jadeite, and ivory, height 11.43 cm
Minneapolis Institute of Art, The John R. Van Derlip Fund and Gift of the Thomas Barlow Walker Foundation (92.103.20a–c)
Fig. 17 View of object in Fig. 16, separated