The Lawrence Jade Collection
6th November 2023
An important collection of Chinese jades with royal and Imperial connections has sold in Salisbury for over £2million.
The collection of Murray Lawrence (1935-2021), former chairman of Lloyd’s of London, was partially inherited from his father, Henry Walter Neville Lawrence (1891-1959), who acquired much of it from renowned London dealers, Spink & Son. It is came under the hammer at Woolley and Wallis as part of the firm's November series of Asian Art sales.
Several of the pieces featured in other notable collections, such as that of Hugh Sartorious Whitaker, Major-General Charles Gordon (known as Gordon of Khartoum), and Sir John Buchanan-Jardine Bt. A particularly fine pair of white jade jars with reticulated covers were previously in the collection of HM Queen Maria of Yugoslavia (1900-61) - a keen collector of Oriental art.
The art of jade carving dates back several thousand years in China, with the hardstone highly prized for its toughness, durability, aesthetic and tactile qualities.
Many of the 34 lots comprising the collection date from the 18th century – a period considered highly significant in the history of jade carving.
In her introduction to the auction catalogue, former Keeper of the Far Eastern Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Rose Kerr, describes the reign of the Qianlong Emperor as “obsessed with jade”. She continues, “The Emperor’s personal intervention… and the perfected skills of palace craftsmen make the mid-Qing period a golden time for jade carving” and describes the Lawrence jades as “indicative of products from this Golden Era”.
Among the highlight lots was a set of three spinach-green jade altar vessels (lot 1), which are believed to have been commissioned by the Imperial palace; possibly by the Qianlong Emperor himself. They sold for £81,900. A pair of fine Dragon seals were also believed to relate to the Imperial court, and sold for £415,800 (lot 17).
One of the top lots of the collection was an exceptional Imperial white jade incense burner and cover, the beauty of which lies in the quality of the stone (lot 19). The pale cream colour (known as ‘mutton fat’) is one of the most highly-prized forms of nephrite jade and the simple archaic design of the censer shows the near flawless stone to its best advantage. However, it was the following lot (lot 20), that combined the white jade with Chinese symbolism - a vase modelled as a segment of bamboo culm - it sold for £690,000.
The auction of the collection at Woolley and Wallis started off three days of Asian Art sales from 14th November. The 34 lots totalled £2,470,750, including buyer's premium.
