Scholars or literati of the Ming and Qing dynasties, based on personal knowledge, set off a fashion movement about "taste". In order to distinguish themselves from the rich and gorgeous life interests of the common people, these cultural elites have developed a set of life paradigms characterized by "elegance", and their Chinese house jade is the most representative.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, jade-made stationery supplies were particularly popular, surpassing any previous period in quantity and quality. Its types of utensils include jade brushes, jade pen holders, jade stones, jade seals and other practical utensils in the study room, as well as jade shanzi, jade ornaments and other Jaitou qing play, furnishings. With the gradual popularization of this preference of scholars, the whole society has accepted "Wenfangyu" as a representative of elegant taste, and with the Jiangnan region as the center, the trend has been promoted to the whole country.
▌[Qing] White jade sheep head
Length 7cm, width 3cm, height 0.7cm
The shell is made of white jade, the top is decorated with a double-horned sheep's head, the body is slender and slightly curved, the tail is pointed, and the rope pattern is engraved on it. A retractor is a type of retractor that inserts a thin tail end into the gap of the knot when used, so that the knot is loosened and can then be easily untied. Later, it gradually evolved from a production tool to a kind of ornament.
▌[Qing] White jade calligraphy and painting
Left: Length 6.7cm, width 2cm, height 0.3cm Right: Length 4.6cm, width 2cm, height 0.3cm
The two pieces of calligraphy and painting are of white jade, the jade is warm and white, and the surface is embossed with a cloud pattern, which is elegant and dignified as a whole. Beizi is an artifact used to pin the opening on the line-bound books or calligraphy painting hand scrolls, which are mostly made of bone in ancient times, and jade craftsmen are relatively rare, and are generally used for the collection of important painting hand scrolls.
▌[Qing] Cat play butterfly pattern white jade pendant
Length 8.5cm, width 2.5cm
The jade pendant is supported by a jade leaf, and there is a butterfly and a cat carved on it. Butterflies are spreading their wings and flying, and cats are lying on their stomachs in a lazy form. The jade leaves are crystal clear and moist, the edges are rounded and smooth, the front leaf veins are curved into grooves, and the back leaf veins are correspondingly convex, making the leaves very realistic. The whole picture is ingeniously conceived, combining movement and static, and is full of fun.
The most exquisite feature of Ming and Qing jade is the excellent material and superb grinding technology, and the pursuit of ingenuity and interest in art, especially in the Qing Dynasty, the technology of grinding and carving can be described as the pinnacle.
Fashion is an attitude to life. For the warm and introverted Jiangnan people, they closely link "beauty" with daily life. The furnishings in the study should enter the eyes of the literati, and the jewelry in the boudoir should be on the head of the beauty, which are all sublimations of aesthetic taste.
This article is excerpted from the 8th issue of the 2019 "Collection" magazine "Boudoir Gold Wenfangyu: Ming and Qing Dynasty Jiangnan Region Fashion Life Exhibition", for more content, please pay attention to the current issue of the magazine.