Page 52 - Marchant Ninety Jades For 90 Years

二 23. A set of three oval openwork ruyi-sceptre plaques, each carved with birds of paradise in flight amongst flowering camellia and dense

十 scrolling foliage, leaves, branches and pierced rockwork, on an oval frame with pairs of holes on the reverse for attachment, the stone

三 white and pale celadon.

The sceptre head 4 ¼ inches, 10.9 cm diameter.
鏤 The central plaque 4 ⅛ inches, 10.5 cm long.
雕 The end plaque 2 ⅝ inches, 6.8 cm diameter.
茶 Yuan/Ming dynasty 14th/15th century.
花

綬 • From an important French collection.
帶 • It is rare to find a complete set of three plaques from a sceptre.
紋
瓦 • Two, possibly from the same sceptre, also with birds of paradise, amongst prunus and leaves with serrated edges, dated to Jin/
子 Yuan dynasty, 13th/14th century, were included by Marchant in their 85th anniversary exhibition of Chinese Jades from Tang
三 to Qing, 2010, no. 26, p. 48, and no. 28, p. 50 respectively; another dated Song/Jin dynasty, 12th/13th century, in the British
件 Museum, is illustrated by Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, no. 25:13 p. 337, where the author notes,
‘Both the form and the openwork are characteristic of a large category of ornaments of the Song, Jin and Yuan periods. Very

青 often the heads of the birds are wound among the tendrils of flowers, as seen in no. 25:12, fig. I. One of the major attractions of

白 the subject matter was its potential as a means of displaying virtuosity in carving three-dimensional openwork. Indeed, jade is

玉 suited to the form, as its strength ensures it does not fracture across slender branches and sprays’; another is illustrated by Angus

Forsyth and Brian McElney in Jades from China, The Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, no. 245, p. 329.
元 • Birds of paradise, also known as ribbon-tailed birds, shoudainiao, are two spices of Asian birds: the paradise flycatcher and
/ the red-billed blue magpie, both often depicted with camellia. The birds’ long tails are also known as changshou, which is
明 homophonous with a term for longevity. The second character in the word ‘ribbon’, dai, is a pun for generations, this character

also bringing to mind the belt or jade ornaments, yudai, worn by high officials, making the ribbon-tailed bird a symbol for rank

as well. When depicted with camellia, it forms the rebus chunguang changshou, ‘May you enjoy eternal youth and longevity’. This

is discussed in detail by Terese Tse Bartholomew in Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, nos. 7.51- 7.51.12, pp. 215-218.

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