A rare pale green jade ruyi sceptre

18th/19th century

Footnotes

十八/十九世紀 青白玉雕壽桃蝙蝠如意

Provenance:
Edward Ford Duncanson (1833-1899), and thence by descent.

來源：
愛德華·福德·鄧肯森（1883-1899），後由家族繼承

Edward Ford Duncanson was a merchant and banker in the China trade. During his lifetime he was a partner of TA Gibb & Co., as well as a director of London & County Bank, Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank, and The P&O Company (from 1888 onwards).

愛德華·福德生前從事對華金融及貿易行業。他曾是多家知名洋行的合夥人，包括TA Gibb & Co.公司等，並曾先後擔任倫敦銀行、匯豐銀行董事總監，並在1888年後任大英輪船公司董事。

The present lot is remarkable for the crisp relief carving of the motifs as well as the fluid quality of the carving emphasised by the elegant sinuous curve of the sceptre, enhanced by the refined smoothly-polished stone.

This ruyi sceptre is abundant with auspicious connotations by means of puns and rebuses. Ruyi means 'as you wish', and therefore the presentation of a ruyi sceptre would have been deemed as bestowing good luck. The blooming peony (fuguihua 富貴花) is regarded as an emblem symbolising wealth and honour, while the narcissus (shuixianhua 水仙花) has the word 'immortal' in its name; together, they form the homonym shenxian fugui 神仙富貴, meaning 'may you be blessed with longevity, wealth and honour'. In addition, the two peaches carved in low relief at the centre of the shaft represent the wish for longevity. The combination of peach, bats and the ruyi sceptre forms the rebus fushou ruyi 福壽如意, which symbolises blessings, longevity and fulfillment of all wishes.

The Yongzheng Emperor revived the tradition of presentation of ruyi sceptres by commissioning examples in various prized materials including jade, jadeite, turquoise, zitan, and filigree work. The importance of the ruyi sceptre was further reinforced by the Qianlong Emperor, who officially called upon courtiers to present ruyi sceptres at Imperial birthdays and New Year celebrations. The superb quality of the present jade sceptre would have made it suitable as such a gift.

The exceptional quality, design and skilful carving of the present lot can be compared to a number of pale green jade examples of larger size, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 8 Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pls.60 and 62.

Compare a related but larger pale celadon jade 'quail and millet' ruyi sceptre, 18th/19th century, which was sold at Sotheby's London, 5 November 2014, lot 3; a further related larger white jade ruyi sceptre, Qianlong, carved with bat, peaches, narcissus and lingzhi, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3562; and see another related white jade ruyi sceptre, 18th century, of similar size, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 6 April 2015, lot 46.

青白玉質，如意頭靈芝形，上浮雕蝙蝠牡丹，寓意「富貴如意」，柄部修長彎曲，拱面浮雕壽桃，柄端雕南天竹及蝙蝠，柄背面雕祥雲蝙蝠。

雲頭如意最早見於唐墓出土。到宋代，發展成為室內之陳設，明晚期更成為文房不可或缺之物。清代以降，因其吉祥寓意，如意是大臣祝賀皇室壽辰的首選，常居禮單之首。宮寢之中常見以如意裝點，帝王肖像畫亦往往見有手執如意者。

參看北京故宮博物院清宮舊藏兩件青白玉雕如意，尺寸較本品稍大，著錄於《故宮博物院藏品大系：玉器編8清代玉器》，北京，2011年，編號60及62。

倫敦蘇富比曾售出十八/十九世紀青玉如意，2014年11月5日，拍品編號3。另見香港佳士得曾售出清乾隆白玉雕水仙壽桃靈芝如意，2011年6月1日，拍品編號3562；另見香港佳士得售出十八世紀白玉雕如意，大小與本品相當，2015年4月6日，拍品編號46。