QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

This very distinctively shaped vessel was carved in imitation of an archaic bronze form, which was used to hold artist’s materials. Coloured pigments were kept in the tubular compartments at each corner and subdivided by wooden compartments. The central compartment held a saucer and water for mixing the colours. For a discussion of the bronze prototypes, see Cheng Te Kun, ‘The T’u-Lu Colour-Container of the Shang-Chou Period’, B.M.F.E.A., no. 37, 1965, pp. 239-249, pl. 1-6, where examples in jade, marble and pottery are also illustrated.
A white jade square vessel of similar form and decoration from the Qing Imperial Collection in Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 190, no. 156. (fig. 1).