Page 97 - Reginald and Lena Palmer Collection EXHIBITION, Bonhams London Oct 25 to November 2 2021

The ‘Book of Han’ (Han shu) records
With so many auspicious meanings, from the
an ode mentioning an elephant: Ming dynasty until 1884, elephants were kept
in Beijing as an adjunct for the performance
The elephant, white like jade of Imperial ceremonies. Most of the elephants
Came here from the west were sent as tribute from South East Asian
It eats the morning dew kingdoms such as those in northern Vietnam or
From Heaven... Burma. Enhancing the prestige of the Emperor,
And drinks luminescent spring water paintings show that elephants lined both sides
This elephant reveals Heaven’s will, of the entrance at the Meridian Gate in the
Bringing happiness to human beings. Forbidden City when Imperial officials or foreign
embassies came to report to the Emperor. See
also a Court painting, Qianlong, ‘Ten Thousand
Envoys Come to Pay Tribute’ depicting an
elephant carrying a vase as part of a tribute
procession, illustrated by C.Ho and B.Bronson,
Splendors of China’s Forbidden City: The
Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, London,
2004, pls.80-82.
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