China. Finely carved as a tall magnolia blossom, the layered petals forming the sides of the vase, borne on an openworked gnarled stem bearing smaller blossoms and buds. The superbly polished, translucent stone is of an almost flawless celadon tone with only few milky inclusions and russet veins.

Provenance: The Ezekiel Collection, no. K/32 (old collector’s label to one side). Purchased by Victor Ezekiel on 29 November 1957. A copy of a typed and handwritten note by Victor Ezekiel, stating the collection no. K/32 and purchase date of 29 November 1957 and describing the piece as “A pale jade vase, carved as a floral spray with large and small flowers, 5in., Ch’ien Lung, with a stand and case”, accompanies this lot. The Ezekiel Collection was formed by Marcus Ezekiel (1854-1927) and his son Victor (1905-1976), two leading figures in the formative years of Chinese art collecting in London in the 20th century, and important early members of the Oriental Ceramic Society. In 1975 Rose Kerr, then a young associate curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, came to David Ezekiel, Victor’s son, to select loans for the prestigious Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition "Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages”. David was, like his father, generous with loans to the Society’s exhibitions, particularly “The World in monochromes” in 2009 (with his grandfather’s legendary blanc de chine magnolia cup gracing the back cover of the catalog) and “China Without Dragons” in 2016.
Condition: Superb condition, commensurate with age. Minor wear, few microscopic nicks, the stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into microscopic hairline cracks over time.

Weight: 207.5 g (excl. base)
Dimensions: Height 11.8 cm (excl. base) and 14.5 cm (incl. base)

With a finely carved, openworked, and fitted hardwood base supported on four ruyi-form feet, dating to the Qing dynasty. (2)

The white magnolia, or yulan in Chinese, is an emblem of purity and a pictorial pun to represent the Chinese word for jade, yu.

Literature comparison: Compare a related white jade cup in the form of a magnolia blossom in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, illustrated in The T.T. Tsui Galleries of Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. no. 115.

Auction result comparison: Compare a closely related pale celadon jade (described as white jade) vase in the form of a magnolia flower, also dated to the 18^th century, at Sotheby’s New York in The Concordia House Collection: Fine Chinese Jades And Important Works Of Art From A Midwestern Family on 19 March 2007, lot 36, sold for USD 102,000.

十八世紀青白玉雕玉蘭花插
中國。花插主體為一朵初放的玉蘭花，花瓣層疊，富有層次感，花口做花插，玉蘭花四周雕有幾朵大小不一的花蕾花苞。底部透雕成的枝杈盤結，整體色澤由底部的青向上漸次變白，色澤瑩潤清新。花插整體造型惟妙惟肖，寓意“玉樹臨風”。

來源：Ezekiel 收藏，編號 K/32 (花插一面可見標籤 )。Victor Ezekiel 購於1957年11月29日。隨附一份Victor Ezekiel 打字並手寫注釋的檔副本，上面可見他的購買日期和收藏編號，並將此器描述爲 “青白玉花插，雕刻成花狀及大小不一的花蕾，5英寸，乾隆，帶底座和盒子。Ezekiel 收藏由Marcus Ezekiel (1854-1927) 和他的兒子 Victor (1905-1976) 創立，他們曾是20世紀上半葉倫敦的中國藝術收藏形成及穩定時期的兩位領軍人物，同時也是東方陶瓷學會早期重要成員。1975年，時任Victoria and Albert Museum美術館年輕副館長的Rose Kerr來找Victor的兒子David Ezekiel，為知名的東方陶瓷協會展覽 "中國歷代玉器 "挑選借展品。David和他的父親一樣，慷慨地為協會的展覽提供資助，特別是 2009 年的“The World in monochromes”（目錄封底是他祖父的傳奇白玉蘭杯）和 2016 年的“China Without Dragons” 。
品相：狀況極佳，與其年齡相稱。 輕微磨損，輕微小刻痕。有天然裂縫的玉料，隨著時間的推移，其中一些可能已經發展成微小的髮絲線裂縫。

重量：207.5 克 (不含底座)
尺寸：高 11.8 釐米 (不含底座)，總14.5 釐米

清代透雕硬木四足底座。 (2)

白玉蘭，是純潔的象徵，與玉正好相對應。

文獻比較：一件相似的白玉雕玉蘭杯，見多倫多Royal Ontario Museum, The T.T. Tsui Galleries of Chinese Art, 香港，1996, 目錄圖片號 115。

拍賣結果比較：比較一件相似的青白玉 (描述爲白玉) 玉蘭花玉瓶，同樣為十八世紀，見紐約蘇富比The Concordia House Collection: Fine Chinese Jades And Important Works Of Art From A Midwestern Family 2007年3月19日 lot 36, 售價USD 102,000。