Page 98 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London

An inscribed green jade screen,
18th century; image courtesy of
the National Palace Museum,
Taipei

The inscription reads: Which may be translated as:
“Made by Imperial Command, I ordered Peng Yuanrui and Cao
《御製 命彭元瑞曹文埴撿四庫全書古來見元孫者有幾，據奏， Wenzhi to gather the “Four Book Depositories” and see how many
自唐迄明凡六人，詩以誌事》 since ancient times had great great great grandchildren? According
to the memorial they gave, from the Tang (618-907) to the Ming
五世元孫膝上珍 (1368-1644) altogether there were only six instances. I wrote this
撿茲有幾命儒臣 poem to commemorate the event:
奏來詳悉翻四庫 Fifth generation grandson, how precious on my knee,
特出禎祥得六人 To search how many there were, I order my scholars.
恰彼古稀帝同數 The memorial comes, in great detail sifting through the
贏其家慶我饒臻 ‘Four Depositories’,
如斯天貺叨駢疊 There were six extraordinarily lucky people.
忍不敕幾心愛民 They too were exactly seventy, the same as the Emperor,
子臣永瑆敬書 The family glorying and celebrating, I am exuberant.
Heaven has honoured me repeatedly,
I warn myself to be diligent and focused on loving the people, to
thank god for his grace.
Respectfully inscribed by your son and servant Yongxing”

Yongxing (1752-1823), better known as Prince Cheng, was the
eleventh son of the Emperor Qianlong. Since childhood he excelled in
calligraphy, arousing even the attention of his talented father. Indeed,
under Qianlong, Yongxing was appointed to be in charge of editing
the ‘Collectanea of Imperial books’. As such, he had the opportunity
to study poetry and calligraphy from the Imperial collection. When his
brother ascended the throne in 1799 to become the Jiaqing Emperor,
Yongxing for a short while held a position as acting minister for the
Board of Revenue and also as minister of the Board of Civil Office.

For a brief version of his biography see Zhongguo Meishujia Renming
Cidian, Shanghai, 1981, p.166.

Another similar Imperial cloisonné enamel plaque mounted as a table
was recently sold at Christie’s London, 10 May 2011, lot 145. A jade
plaque with the same inscription is in the collection of the National
Palace Museum, Taipei.