A CHINESE SPINACH-GREEN JADE RUYI SCEPTRE

A CHINESE SPINACH-GREEN JADE RUYI SCEPTRE
QING DYNASTY

The head carved as a large flat lingzhi decorated with a trailing lotus in low relief, the shaft carved with further flowering lotus stems, the stone mottled with light inclusions throughout; together with a zhadou, its bulbous body and flared rim raised on a short straight foot, with an even dark colour to the stone, 34.2cm and 8.8cm. (2)

PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE.

注：本拍品不設底價。

Provenance: from an English private collection, Sussex.

Cf. The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, accession no.A.17-1925, for a similar spinach-green jade ruyi sceptre naturalistically carved as a lingzhi. This example was given as a diplomatic gift on 14 September 1793 by the Qianlong Emperor to Sir George Leonard Staunton, Secretary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the first British Embassy to China lead by Lord George Macartney. Though to an early English audience the significance of ruyi sceptres was unclear and generally misunderstood as a symbol of sovereignity, they have always featured in Chinese culture as tokens of good fortune. The word ruyi signifies 'as you wish', pointing to the auspicious significance to these objects. As such, they were seen as appropriate Imperial gifts for diplomatic exchanges such as the British Embassy of 1793.