The carved rock crystals of Emperor Qianlong

Magazine Antiques, March, 2000 by Adriana Proser

Rock crystal, also known as quartz crystal, is a transparent form of the mineral quartz that was commonly referred to as buijing, or water essence, in early Chinese writings. [1] Carvings of rock crystal are included in collections of Chinese art throughout the world, but one of the most significant groups is that held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The core of this collection consists of thirty-seven Qing dynasty carvings acquired by Major General William Crozier (1855-1942) and his wife, Mary Hoyt Williams Crozier (1863-1955), who donated them to the museum in 1944. [2] Stationed in Beijing in 1900 as chief ordnance officer of the relief expedition during the Boxer Rebellion, General Crozier returned to that city in the mid-1920s with his wife, and they assembled their collection over a period of approximately three years. Through dealers in China, they acquired twenty-three Qianlong period rock crystals, several of which bear dates or marks of the period. Qianlong, who reigned from 1736 to 1795 and died in 1799, was one of the greatest patrons and collectors of Chinese rock crystal carvings ever.

For thousands of years Chinese artisans have carved hardstones for ritual, mortuary, and decorative purposes, working with a range of materials, from agate to jade. [3] A long tradition of carving and collecting rock crystal is supported by excavated early examples, including a Shang dynasty monkey From a tomb in Henan Province, datable between about 1300 and 1030 B.C.; beads of the Eastern Zhou period (c. 770-256 B.c.) From the Changzhi Fenshui tomb in Shanxi Province; belt hooks and figurines datable to the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220); and a brush stand in the shape of a mountain from a tomb of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) in Zhejiang Province. [4] These finds substantiate text references to carved rock crystal that appear in the Ming dynasty Qing bi cang (Pure and arcane collecting), by Zhang Yingwen (w. 1530-1594), which cites Song dynasty records of rock crystal carvings in a Song household. [5] The chapter on vessels and utensils in Zbang wa zbi jiao zbu (Treatise on superfluous things) by Wen Zhenheng (1585-1645) of about 1615 to 1620 also mentions that pieces of old carved rock crystals could be used as the knobs of incense-burner lids. [6]

Despite its long history of use, however; rock crystal did not flourish as an artistic medium on a grand scale until the reign of Qianlong. The scholar and diplomat Hu Shih (1891--1962) noted that Qianlong was probably more responsible than any other person for "a serious attempt to bring artistic design and execution into the working on crystals." [7] With their complex carving and beautifully inscribed poetry and calligraphy, the Qianlong period pieces in the Crozier collection reveal how the emperor encouraged the production of works that showcased both his intellectual cultivation and his imperial authority.

Emperors had collected and patronized the production of artworks for thousands of years in China. According to one ancient myth, the legendary emperor You ordered craftsmen to cast nine bronze tripods that were subsequently handed down from dynasty to dynasty until they were eventually lost by the Zhou dynasty rulers. In 219 B.C. the first Qin emperor, hoping for an event that would be a sign of heaven's mandate, sought to retrieve the missing tripods from a river. His failed attempt was considered a bad omen for what did indeed turn out to be a short-lived dynasty. The myth exemplifies how from the earliest dynastic times, emperors perceived such treasures as bronzes, paintings, calligraphy, and hardstone carvings to be emblems of imperial authority that helped legitimize their position as rulers. [8]

After the Manchus conquered China and established the Qing dynasty in 1644, their emperors began to appropriate elements of Chinese culture to give their rule greater legitimacy by establishing a sense of historical continuity and cultural sophistication. Emperor Qianlong's interest in Chinese art and connoisseurship followed those established by his father and grandfather, but he played an even more active role in the arts than they had. Under his watchful eye, the imperial kilns and workshops--including those producing carved jades and other harditones--turned out sophisticated, ingenious works, many of them designed to decorate the rooms of the numerous imperial palace buildings. [9] Despite the decorative function of many of the hardstone carvings, however, the emperor was sensitive about "vulgar" works. In his poetry he refers to contemporary jade carvings, of which he was also a great collector, that were fussy to the point of no longer being functional. The rock crystal carvings made under his patrona ge reflect this contradictory aesthetic: most are potentially functional, but it is difficult to picture such remarkable and fragile objects being used for anything except decoration.

What is perhaps most striking about the Qianlong rock crystal carvings in the Crozier collection is the impressive size and clarity of the stones. The carving is exceptionally fluent and detailed, as are the inscribed characters, which are of superb technical quality and calligraphic form. In shape these works indicate the strong influence of ancient Chinese bronzes, and their subject matter shows an inclination toward classical Chinese themes. What follows is a discussion of some of the most extraordinary pieces in the collection.