ornament; plaque BM-1986-0304.2

Period:Qing dynasty
Materials:jade
Technique:pierced, ground, carved,
Subjects:bird,flower
Dimensions:Length: 6.30 centimetres

Description:
White oval jade ornament-plaque, decorated in openwork with a swan among water plants.
IMG


Comments:Rawson 1992:The variety of stones carved by Chinese craftsmen is vast: agate, coral, crystal, lapis-lazuli, malachite, quartz, serpentine, soapstone, tourmaline, turquoise and many others were all used. These stones were admired for the variety of their colours and for the high-quality finish they gave the carvings. Flat carvings, such as this one, could have been sewn on to clothing as personal ornaments. See also BM 1991.0223.1A and BM1986.0303.6-7. Rawson 1995:Pictorial plaques with auspicious associations probably developed gradually from the Tang dynasty belt ornaments. A particular type of plaque, which is traditionally associated with the Liao dynasty, shows small falcons in pursuit of swans in a compositions known as ‘chun shui’ or ‘haidongqing’, which was particularly popular. The swan is usually shown fleeing among water plants chased by a tiny falcon, but in many of the depictions the falcon is omitted, as on this later example in the British Museum.