This vase is cut from jade, the stone the Chinese court valued above every other because it could be worked but never rushed. Jade does not bend; the carver removes everything that is not the object.
The elephant cut is the point. Jade carving rewards a sure hand and punishes a second thought, so the vase reads as a single decision rather than a sequence of them.
Jade carried the moral vocabulary of the Chinese court, the stone against which character itself was measured.
A vase like this was made to outlast its owner by centuries, and it has. The jade still carries the chill it had when it left the Imperial dynasty bench.
Object details
| Name | Beeswax Elephant Ear Looper Bottle (蜜蜡象耳活环瓶) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | 故00105526 |
| Technique | Jade |
| Period | Imperial dynasty |
| Collection | The Palace Museum, Beijing |
| Source | Palace Museum Digital Collection (数字文物库) |
Image © The Palace Museum. View the original in the Palace Museum Digital Collection.