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168
A PALE GREEN JADE ‘EIGHT IMMORTALS’
RUYI SCEPTRE
19th century
The large lingzhi-shaped terminal carved in low
relief with a mountainous scene depicting Shoulao
flanked by a deer, surmounted by a flying crane
grasping a branch of peaches amidst vaporous
clouds, the arched shaft fitted with a loose ring,
carved in high relief with the Eight Immortals holding
their respective attributes, the stone of pale green
tone with brown and white inclusions.
38cm (15in) long

£3,000 - 5,000
HK$33,000 - 55,000
CNY28,000 - 46,000

十九世紀 青白玉八仙拱壽如意

Provenance: a distinguished Belgian private
collection

來源： 顯貴比利時私人收藏

The auspicious subject matter of the Daoist
Immortals on ruyi sceptres was popular in the Qing
Court as attested to by two related white jade
ruyi sceptres, Qing dynasty, carved with Daoist
Immortals, illustrated in Compendium of Collections
in the Palace Museum: Jade, Qing Dynasty, vol.8,
Beijing, 2010, pls.74-75.

169
A PALE GREEN JADE ‘HORSE AND MONKEY’
BELT BUCKLE
18th century
Crisply carved as a recumbent horse with head
turned back over its right shoulder looking at a
monkey perched precariously on its back and
clasping on the reins, the stone with some cloudy
inclusions.
8cm (3 1/8in) wide

168 £6,000 - 8,000
HK$66,000 - 88,000
CNY55,000 - 73,000

十八世紀 青白玉馬上封侯帶飾

The monkey (hou 猴), is a homophone for ‘marquis’
(hou 侯), which on top of a horse (mashang 馬
上), also meaning ‘quickly’, is a rebus for ‘quick
ennoblement’ or rising quickly up the ladder of
success in one’s career.

Compare with a similar jade carving of a horse and
monkey illustrated by R.Kleiner, Chinese Jades from
the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong
Kong, 1996, pp.234-235.

169