VERSEUSE RITUELLE EN NÉPHRITE À MONTURE EN ARGENT MONGOLIE, XVIIIE/XIXE SIÈCLEVERSEUSE RITUELLE EN NÉPHRITE À MONTURE EN ARGENTMONGOLIE, XVIIIE/XIXE SIÈCLE Himalayan Art Resources item no. 205030 With lid: 19 cm (7 1/2 in.) highA SILVER MOUNTED NEPHRITE RITUAL EWER MONGOLIA, 18TH/19TH CENTURY 蒙古 十八/十九世紀 和闐玉嵌銀嵌寶執壺In Qing China and Mughal India, nephrite jade was popularly fashioned into tools, vessels, and decorative objects as signs of status and kingship. This practice was transmitted to some extent into Mongolia, based on the present ewer's loose borrowings of a Chinese-styled ruyi band at the foot and a dragon-headed spout. Its use of silver with embellishments of multicolored inset stones, however, reflect the aesthetic tastes of Mongolian elites and an awareness for Tibetan art. In the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is a jade ceremonial urn erroneously dated to the 16th century (M.83.247a-b) that shares a nearly identical arrangement of garland-spewing kirtimukhas on silver mounts, strongly hinting that both objects were once part of the same altar set. Provenance:Michael Backman Ltd., London