Page 55 - Important Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, Hong Kong

fig. 1 Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
圖一 北京故宮博物院藏品

3224 Continued

The poem at the back of the ruyi can be translated:

‘My literary mind is in Deyu’s rhapsodies,
The meaning of Chan is in Jiaoran’s poetry.
I still possess my natural sections,
And utterly devoid of any side branches.
Luo’s magic is but an illusion,
While Senshao’s gift is true and fitting.
My favourite moment is at a philosophical discourse,
When I encounter a gentleman.‘

This exceptional Imperial ruyi is one of only few extant examples
known to have been inscribed with poems composed by the Qianlong
Emperor. The examples closest in form to the current ruyi are the set
of three bamboo veneer sceptres in the Beijing Palace Museum, one of
which is illustrated in The Palace Museum Collection of Elite Carvings,
Beijing, 2002, p. 87, no. 5 (fig. 1). This set of three are inset with white
jade plaques and decorated in relief with the Eight Daoist Treasures.
They are inscribed with poems dedicated to the Three Star Gods: Fu,
Lu and Shou. Another ruyi, formerly in the collection of Hugh Moss, was
sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2010, lot 1728. The Moss example
is shaped as a lingzhi branch and inscribed with the same poem as that
on the current ruyi. Compare also, the tiered box in the Beijing Palace
Museum, similarly decorated using lighter and darker bamboo veneer
as the current ruyi, illustrated in The Palace Museum Collection of Elite
Carvings, Beijing, 2002, p. 83, no. 51.

此如意作工精細，以深、淺二色竹黃貼皮鑲嵌，又加以陰刻流雲紋飾，
巧妙而不失皇家貴氣，為造辦處所作之上等文竹精品。此類帶御題詩的
竹黃如意非常罕見，目前有著錄的僅見數例。北京故宮博物院藏有一組
三件鑲玉竹黃如意，造形與本如意非常相似，其上分別刻福、祿、壽
三星贊，其中一件著錄於《故宮雕刻珍萃》，北京，2002 年，87 頁，
編號 5（圖一）。另一件竹黃如意為水松石山房舊藏，曾於香港蘇富比
2010 年 4 月 8 日拍賣，拍品 1728 號。水松石山房之例為一隨形靈芝，
並刻有與此如意相同的詩文。北京故宮博物院還藏有一件竹黃蓋盒，也
有深淺兩色的竹黃裝飾，著錄於前揭書，83 頁，編號 51。

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