Page 90 - Bonhams, Fine Chinese Art, London November 3, 2022

Image courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing (Image in detail)

The present figure, made of gold of exceptionally The Qing Court funnelled immense resources
high purity, is exceedingly rare and notable for into their religious projects through the Imperial
the impeccable casting, the high-quality gilding, Household Department (Neiwu fu) and the Ministry
the meticulous filigree work and the setting of of Rites. The Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong
semi-precious stones adorning the garments, emperors alone established dozens of temples
and generous use of the precious metal. Works in Beijing, most of them dedicated to Tibetan
displaying such a high-level of workmanship were Buddhism and the Confucian rituals of the state.
undoubtedly produced by the Imperial workshops But daily records of the Court also show that they
at the time and destined for use at the Imperial promoted many other religious activities, especially
Court. shrines for their own Manchu spirits, for the Chinese
war god Guandi, and for the beloved bodhisattva of
This gold figure was part of a set of ‘The Seven compassion, Guanyin. They personally performed
Royal Treasures’, which would have been placed Daoist-inspired acts of abject penitence before
on an alter. See a related jade and semi-precious local dragon-gods during years of drought, and
stone-inlaid set of the ‘Seven Royal Treasures’ patronised such popular Daoist figures.
on sandalwood stands, and a similar figure of an
‘Able Minister’, 18th century, in the Qing Court The use of semi-precious stones insets, such as
Collection, the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated tourmaline, pearls and turquoise, on gold, appears
by E.Rawski and J.Rawson, China: The Three to be a revival of a Ming dynasty practice which can
Emperors 1662-1795, London, 2005, p.140, no.45. be seen on vessels dating to the fifteenth century.
The set includes a Golden Wheel, Swift Horse, The early Ming emperors were expansionist and
White Elephant, Loyal General, Able Minister of the outward-looking, and following Admiral Zheng He’s
Treasury, Jewels of Omen, and Divine Pearls. The seven voyages across the ‘Western Oceans’, gems
present lot can therefore identified as ‘Able Minister from Southeast Asia, India and Sri Lanka, started
of the Treasury’ similarly to the one in the jade set to be imported into China along with gold, spices
in the Palace Museum, Beijing. See also a related and exotic animals; see for instance a gold ewer,
altar quintet of the ‘Eight Auspicious Treasures’ in Ming dynasty, decorated with dragons and inset
jewel-inlaid gold-filigree, Yongzheng, illustrated in with similar stones as the present lot, illustrated
Harmony and Integrity: The Yongzheng Emperor in Art of China. Highlights from the Philadelphia
and His Times, 2009, Taipei, p.143. Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 2018, p.97, and a
rectangular gem-inset gold ‘dragon’ plaque, early
According to the Indian myth, only the ‘Wheel- Ming dynasty, illustrated in Ming: Fifty Years that
turning Sage King’ (Sanskrit: cakravarti-raja) changed China, London, 2014, pp.108-109, fig.98.
possessed the ‘Seven Treasures’, which would aid For Qing dynasty examples of goldwork and inlay,
him in ruling his domain. Later, the ‘Seven Royal see a gold gourd-shaped ewer for wine, inlaid
Treasures’ were inherited by Buddhism and taken with pearls, rubies, coral, and other semi-precious
as offerings presented to Shakyamuni Buddha. stones, Qianlong, illustrated in Splendors of China’s
Besides, the association of the ‘Seven Treasures’ Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor
with the Sage Kings, with whom the Chinese Qianlong, New York, 2004, p.193, no.235.
emperors often liked to identify themselves, made
the symbols a highly auspicious motif for decoration
in the Imperial palace.

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