Dish or cup with ram's head
late 18th century
The Qing dynasty palace collection held copies of one of the most beautiful of all Mughal carvings, emperor Shah Jahan’s famous white jade cup of 1657, after which this piece is modeled. The dish’s walls are so thin that a crystalline pattern is visible. Its translucency and sensitively modeled details rank it as a masterpiece in its own right. It is often hard to tell whether jade was carved in Mughal India, in the Xinjiang province of Chinese central Asia, or in interior China because Chinese artists assimilated foreign elements of the art form. Likewise, artists outside of China adapted their ideas to appeal to Chinese rulers.
Moss green nephrite with yellow and white coloration
1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. (1.27 x 8.26 x 5.72 cm)
Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection
35.576
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
