Censer

A pair of cylindrical censers has been made of dark-green Manasi jade with tiny black infusions. The round cover and base in white hetian jade have an incised meander frieze on the side edge, and the top of the lid bears six floral panels in shallow relief. The cylinder, decorated with shallow-relief openwork, depicts the life of seclusion led by sages in the mountains.

The cylindrical censer was an innovation of carvers of the Jiading school in the Zhejiang and Jiangsu regions during the late Ming period. A unique incense cylinder crafted from bamboo by Zhu Yazhen, one of the three Jiading masters, was found in a Wanli-period tomb (1573–1620) excavated near Shanghai (An 1980, 91–92). The top and bottom were covered with circular lids, whilethe openwork on the sides allowed the smoke to escape. The form was prevalent among bamboo and wood pieces in the Ming period and later appeared in jade pieces. Jade cylindrical censers in the Qing imperial collection were made of white or dark-green jade and were densely decorated with dragons in clouds, scenes from the lives of sages and farmers, people fishing in a landscape, or immortals in the mountains (Na 1986a, 45, fig. 2; Palace Museum, Beijing 1995, vol. 42, plates 36–38).

This pair, made of new material, is close to the Qianlong style in form and subject matter. The relief openwork, however, lacks the complexity of Qianlong work, in which multiple layers could be rendered in a thin wall with exquisite details.