6. A celadon jade magnolia-shaped washer

The washer is freely carved in the form of a large magnolia blossom, with a boss-shaped central pistil, all borne on carved and pierced interlaced stems with two further smaller matching flowers, as well as leaves and buds. The stone is of light celadon colour with some paler flaws and areas of brownish suffusion.

Provenance:
Bonhams New York, 10th September 2018, lot 55
Priestley & Ferraro, ‘Sinews of Stone: Jade Carvings in the Ming Dynasty’, November 2021, no.5

Washers like the present one, carved in the free and generous Ming style known as  cu da ming , would have been appreciated by contemporary scholars, embodying as they do the untramelled spirit the scholars sought in their poetry and painting, as well as being very practical. For a related washer carved with flowers, see  中國玉器全集 5 隋·唐—明 “The Complete Works of Chinese Jade 5 Sui·Tang-Ming”, p. 210.

青玉木蘭花式洗

Dimensions: Length: 15.8 cm, 6 ¼ inches

Date: Ming dynasty (1368-1644)