The figure is a study in patience. White jade holds a polish no metal keeps, and the Imperial workshop used that slow shine to signal rank and restraint at once.
A figure in white 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 white jade favoured objects that could be held and turned, read in the palm as much as on the shelf. A figure was a private argument about refinement.
Jade is the slowest possible reply to fashion. This figure is Sinocra’s reason for keeping the craft in view, with more from The Palace Museum in the shop.
Object details
| Name | White jade carved landscape figures Shanzi (白玉雕山水人物图山子) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | 新00092039 |
| Technique | White jade (白玉) |
| 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.