Not currently on display at the V&A

Vase

Place of origin

This vase and cover have each been fashioned from a single piece of nephrite jade, which is a hard and durable material that requires patience and skill to work. Although it is a hard material, when it has been worked to give fine edges or thicknesses, it can be prone to damage by sharp impacts or significant and rapid changes in temperature. Objects such as this, fashioned from nephrite, would have been destined for wealthy or notable people.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Vase
  • Stand
  • Cover
Materials and techniques
Nephrite, fashioned using abrasives and abrasive-charged tools and employing a variety of techniques. The wood has been carved with traditional woodworking tools.
Brief description
Vase and cover, white nephrite jade, rounded rectangular, carved flowers and foliage, with wooden stand, China
Physical description
A vase with cover fashioned in white to very pale green nephrite jade, with a wooden stand.
The vase is tall and of a generally narrow, rounded rectangular form. It stands on a flared and recessed foot which is smooth on the inside and which has been carved with vertical channels which run down to the scalloped foot rim. From the foot, the vase expands as it rises to approximately 75% of the overall height before reaching the neck which first narrows and then widens again to the rim. The interior is smooth and the exterior has been carved in relief with flowers and foliage. There is a crack that extends down from the rim.
The cover is narrow, rounded rectangular with a high dome with the rim having a raised inner ring for locating and securing the cover in position on the vase. The interior is smooth with a partial polish and the exterior has been carved with leaves and there is central, integral finial carved as an opening flower bud and which has been hollowed out.
The stand is oval with a contoured side and it has a roughly oval protrusion on the top, onto which the base of the vase can be located and secured. The stand's base is flat and there are four attached, dark fabric feet.
Dimensions
  • 1557 1882 length: 105.5mm (Note: Maximum length of the rounded rectangular body)
  • 1557 1882 width: 56.6mm (+/- 0.5) (Note: Maximum width of the rounded rectangular body)
  • 1557 1882 height: 225.0mm (+/- 0.5)
  • 1557 1882 depth: 201.0mm (+/- 0.5) (Note: Depth from the rim, at the centre)
  • 1557 1882 length: 69.7mm (Note: External length at the rim)
  • 1557 1882 width: 40.8mm (Note: External width at the rim)
  • 1557 1882 length: 57.4mm (Note: External length of the foot)
  • 1557 1882 width: 35.4mm (Note: External width of the foot)
  • 1557 1882 depth: 17.0mm (+/- 0.5) (Note: Depth of the foot recess, from the rim)
  • 1557 a 1882 length: 96.7mm (Note: Length of the oval base)
  • 1557 a 1882 width: 73.4mm (Note: Width of the oval base)
  • 1557 a 1882 height: 30.5mm (Note: Height excluding the foot pads)
  • 1557 b 1882 length: 70.5mm (Note: Maximum length of the cover)
  • 1557 b 1882 width: 42.0mm (Note: Maximum width of the cover)
  • 1557 b 1882 height: 49.2mm (Note: Overall height from the raised inner ring to the top of the finial)
Credit line
Wells Bequest
Object history
This vase, cover and stand were most probably fashioned in China and they were acquired by Arthur Wells who was a Nottingham solicitor and Clerk of the Peace. He was a keen traveller and was made a Fellow of the Geographical Society. He is considered to be the first private British collector of Chinese jade and his collection of jade and other hardstone objects from South Asia was on exhibition at the South Kensington Museum at the time of his death in 1882. This collection was left to the museum in his will - the Wells Bequest.
Summary
This vase and cover have each been fashioned from a single piece of nephrite jade, which is a hard and durable material that requires patience and skill to work. Although it is a hard material, when it has been worked to give fine edges or thicknesses, it can be prone to damage by sharp impacts or significant and rapid changes in temperature. Objects such as this, fashioned from nephrite, would have been destined for wealthy or notable people.
Collection
Accession number
1557 to B-1882

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
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