The cup is a study in patience. Jade holds a polish no metal keeps, and the Imperial workshop used that slow shine to signal rank and restraint at once.
A cup in jade was never merely pretty. In a culture that called its rulers’ virtue ‘jade-like’, the stone was a standard as much as a material.
The Imperial taste for jade favoured objects that could be held and turned, read in the palm as much as on the shelf. A cup was a private argument about refinement.
Jade is the slowest possible reply to fashion. This cup is Sinocra’s reason for keeping the craft in view, with more from The Palace Museum in the shop.
Object details
| Name | Agate single ear cup (玛瑙单螭耳杯) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | 故00104829 |
| 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.