Page 43 - Sotheby's Important Jades, Amber & Hardstones Oct. 3, 2018

Jade covered boxes of this type are extremely rare and no
other closely related example appears to have been published.
The bright design of lingzhi, the auspicious longevity fungus,
provides an attractive contrast with the subtle hues and relief-
carved border of the white jade, and may have been inspired by
hardstone-inlaid zitan boxes which grew in favour with the court
from the Ming dynasty; see a slightly smaller box, attributed
to the mid-Qing dynasty and adorned with a narcissus and
nandina berry spray issuing from a rock, from the Qing Court
collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete
Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Bamboo, Wood,
Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Shanghai, 2001, pl. 240.
Hardstone embellishments on jade were generally reserved
for decorative items such as ruyi sceptres; see two white jade
ruyi sceptres, attributed to the Qianlong period, in the National
Palace Museum, Taipei, one decorated with peaches, bats
and lingzhi fungus in lapis lazuli, coral and glass, included
in the Museum’s exhibition Masterpieces of Chinese Ju-i
Scepters in the National Palace Museum, 1995, cat. no. 6,
and the other, finely inlaid with various gemstones depicting
peaches, narcissus on the ruyi terminal and bamboos, lingzhi
and rockwork on the shaft, exhibited in Emperor’s Treasures.
Chinese Art from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, op. cit.,
cat. no. 178; and a pair from the Qing Court collection and
still in Beijing, decorated with quails and millet, published in
The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum.
Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 30, together with a white
jade hairpin inlaid with a lotus flower design, pl. 7.

IMPORTANT JADES, AMBERS AND HARDSTONES FROM A DISTINGUISHED CONNOISSEUR 41