Qianlong Carved with two rectangular hollow tubes, each of the wider sides carved in mirror image with an archaistic taotie mask above further archaistic scroll when the tubes are closed together, the narrower sides similarly carved with archaistic scrolls, each tube terminating in circular discs secured by a pin to a central fitting with a rectangular opening through which the tubes could be locked to remain extended in a single straight line, the stone of even pale green tone, stand. 9.6cm (3 3/4in) high. (2).Footnotes清乾隆 青白玉雕饕餮紋絜矩 Provenance: A distinguished private Asian collection 來源: 亞洲顯赫私人收藏 This archaistic 'hinge fitting' is called jieju in Chinese, a term from the Confucius classic Daxue (Great Learning) of the Liji (Book of Ritual), which means a junzi or gentleman needs to behave himself within the Confucian moral standards. The thought of associating archaistic objects with Confucian standards was emphasised by scholars during the Qianlong and Jiaqing period, after the fashion of reviving and researching antiquities which was directly led by Emperor Qianlong. The shape has ancient origins, and its ancient bronze prototype can be found in the 西清古鑑 Xiqing Gujian, or Catalogue of Xiqing Antiquities, which was an illustrated catalogue of ancient bronzes in the Imperial Collection, completed in 1751. A few examples of jade pieces designed to the same specifications as the present lot are preserved in the most prestigious museum collections, all dated to the Qianlong period. Compare with a very similar example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, which is illustrated in the The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware, Shanghai, 2008, vol.III, pl.130; a second similar jade fitting in the Tianjin Museum, which is illustrated by W.Y.Bai ed., Tianjin Museum, London, 2012, pl.43; and a spinach jade piece in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated by M.Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, no.104 and 106. See also a similar white jade fitting, Qianlong, which was sold at Bonhams London, 15th May 2014, lot 182. 青白玉質，二方桶相連，底部各有一軸鏈接底座，可合併展開九十度呈矩形，面淺浮雕雕仿古饕餮紋。 此器形制特別，稱為絜矩，語出《大學》：「所謂平天下在治其國者：上老老而民興孝，上長長而民興弟，上恤孤而民不倍，是以君子有絜矩之道也。」「絜」有約束之意，「矩」為規矩之意，旨在君子以絜矩提醒約束規範自己的道德行為。此器名為後世理學家所附會，原本器型應取自漢代車馬器部件，清宮舊藏一件漢代車馬器可資參考，見《西清古鑒》，北京，1749年，卷38，頁17。 北京故宮博物院藏一件青玉雙筒式絜矩，原定為花插，見《故宮博物院藏文物大系玉器》，上海，2008年，卷下，編號130。天津博物館藏一件清乾隆鳳紋玉絜矩與本件極似，見《天津博物館藏玉》，天津，2012年，編號177。另有英國維多利亞及阿伯特博物館藏一件清乾隆碧玉饕餮紋絜矩可資參考，見Mign Wilson著，《Chinese Jades》，倫敦，2004年，頁10。邦瀚斯倫敦售出一件類似清乾隆白玉雕絜矩，2014年5月15日，拍品編號182。