18TH CENTURY

The use of perfumiers started in the Tang and Song dynasties, and gained popularity in the Imperial Palace and the noble households as a type of functional décor during the Qing dynasty. Incense or fresh flowers were placed in perfumiers with openings on the sides to emit pleasant aroma in the interior spaces. The present circular white jade perfumier is carved with reticulated, interlocking T-shaped components. This intricate design was known to be an innovation of jade perfumiers during the Qianlong period (1736-1795). A green jade perfumier of slightly larger size, carved with very similar archaistic scrolls, previously in the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jade Ware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 50, no. 39. Another reticulated greenish-white jade perfumier of similar size, but with plain T-shaped interlocking elements and similarly carved conforming zitan cover and stand, also from the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated by Yang Boda in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji (The Complete Collection of Chinese jades), vol. 6, Hebei, 1994, p. 53, no. 85, fig. 1.