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PROPERTY FROM AN OLD HONG KONG FAMILY COLLECTION 清乾隆至嘉慶 白玉福壽如意
A FINELY CARVED WHITE JADE ‘PEACH AND
BAT’ RUYI SCEPTRE
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG – JIAQING
PERIOD
the ruyi-shaped terminal worked with a raised border enclosing
a beribboned musical chime (qing) suspending a wan symbol
atop a pair of peaches and a bat with outstretched wings,
the lower end of the elongated arched shaft decorated with
scrolling motifs, the shaft edge pierced with apertures to
thread a tassel, the smoothly polished stone of an even white
colour, stand and glass showcase
35.2 cm, 13⅞ in.

HK$ 1,200,000-1,800,000
US$ 154,000-230,000

Finely fashioned from a large boulder, this sceptre highlights branches of pomegranate and finger-citron, attributed to the
st
the exceptional quality of the even hues of the stone in its Qianlong period, sold in our London rooms, 21 June 1976, lot
simple form and by restricting the carved areas of decoration 279. Further sceptres carved in low-relief include a smaller
to the ruyi-head and shaft end. Large boulders only became white jade example carved with two bats flanking a central
available after 1759, when the Qing military forces defeated the shou character on the terminal, the shaft decorated with
th
Dzungar Khanate and secured control over jade rich regions butterfly and floral bloom, sold in these rooms, 5 November
of Khotan and Yarkand in present day Xinjiang. A bi-annual 1996, lot 1085; and another carved with with a bat suspending
tributary system was subsequently established between a ribbon-tied qing and two peaches on the head, and a
th
the Qing government and the four sub-Khanates of Xinjiang, further bat on the shaft end, sold in our New York rooms, 25
securing the Imperial Workshops a steady supply of high- February 1983, lot 287.
quality jade.
The motifs have been carefully selected for their auspicious
Compare a larger pale celadon jade sceptre carved with similar connotations. The bat and the peaches carved on the head,
auspicious design on the ruyi terminal comprising of peaches, combined with the wan symbol and the beribboned qing
a bat and a wan emblem, but rendered with C-scrolls on the together form the rebus wan fu qing shou, meaning ‘may
end of the shaft, from the collection of Sherry and Lawrence myriad birthday blessings be bestowed’. The peaches also
th
Philips, sold at Christie’s New York, 24 March 2004, lot 53; represent immortality, said to have grown in the orchard of the
and a smaller white jade sceptre, the shaft decorated with Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu).

84 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比