Bowl with Daoist Figures

This exquisite bowl is a rare specimen of jade carving from about 1200s-1300s. It is carved with a Daoist procession scene in low relief, with images of the immortals, musicians, and attendants. Two female immortals, carved in the round, flank the two sides as handles. This robustly carved vessel, presumably served as a personal item of luxury, reflects the great interests in jade and Daoist subjects in the material culture of the literati and the court. A similar example from the Song dynasty and a later emulation with the imperial mark "Imitating the Past during the Great Qing" are both preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing.