Page 346 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London

339Y W
A rare pair of jade and hardstone-inlaid wall
screens
18th/19th century
Each panel painted with a thick greyish lacquer ground and
embellished with jade characters forming an Imperial poem, one
table with a scene of an elephant harnessed with ivory and bearing a
vase with turquoise and coral strands, leading an attendant carrying
a jade pike and followed by a further attendant and two smiling old
men standing beside a cauldron and ladle, all within a rocky grove of
pine and wutong, the other screen with a fierce Buddhist lion rolling a
tasselled brocade ball while pulling a cart laden with precious vessels
with the help of three attendants while another figure carries aloft a
branch, all within a similar rocky and wooded landscape, each screen
bordered by a black lacquer frame painted and gilt with dragons
entwined amidst foliate scrolls and a red lotus flower at the centre of
each long side, each screen set within a later low table frame.
Each screen 82.5cm x 111cm (32½in x 43¾in) (2).
£10,000 - 15,000
HK$120,000 - 190,000 CNY98,000 - 150,000
十八/十九世紀 漆嵌百寶御題詩進貢圖掛屏一對

Both screens depict scenes of foreign tribute, such as elephants and The other screen is inscribed:
other gifts. As such, both inscribed poems proclaim the emperor’s
power and benevolence over an empire full of diverse peoples 御製
including, among many others, Manchus, Mongols, Han Chinese, 呼偈披忱寵賜新
Tibetans, and Muslim Hui. 夙沙交臂又來賓
命師底用张二伐
One screen is inscribed: 安遠唯因恤兆人
正喜捷音來禁花
御製 還期鞠旅共賢臣
偏師西海勦逋逃 水西流處均東面
取便恩宣雜種曹 天佑欽承倍敬寅
豈謂解紛更釋難
匪徵目宿與葡萄 Which may be translated as:
情歆左部榮同被
德惡兩階會偶遭 ‘Made by Imperial Command
厚往薄來九經式
持益保泰一心掺 ‘The Hujie prostrate themselves before the Emperor’s favour anew;
The Susha with folded arms come again to submit to their lord.
This may be translated as: I order my troops to stop using their magnificent weapons;
Peace will last only if one sympathises with a million people.
‘Made by Imperial command Just as I rejoice at the sound of victory, my imperial flowers come
[concubines from newly conquered territory];
The army flanks suppress the fugitives at the Western Sea And in their place I will dispatch worthy statesmen.
then, at my leisure, I declare mercy on the group of mongrel peoples. The river flows through east and west alike;
Is it not said that one should pacify conflicts before solving problems? I respectfully proclaim Heavens’s protection and favour!’
The bandits seek out hay and grapes, [horses and wine]
Deeply moved by my Ministry of the Left’s sacrifices, I empathise with
them.
Virtue and evil, master and servant will collide now and then.
To grant much and receive little is the way of the Nine Truths [of
governance] One must uphold good and preserve peace with one’s
whole heart.’

342 | Bonhams