Page 195 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong Sotheby's April 2017

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A WHITE JADE RUYI SCEPTRE 清十八世紀 白玉福壽如意
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
《故宮博物院藏品大系．玉器編》，卷8：清，北
the slender curved sceptre elegantly worked on the ruyi- 京，2011年，圖版62載錄了一件與本器無論紋飾、尺寸均
shaped head with a bat in flight above a gnarled leafy branch 相仿的如意。另有數相仿例，一原為 W.D. Ridgeway 舊
bearing two large peaches, the arched shaft carved with four 藏，售於倫敦蘇富比1977年11月29日，編號269。一例屬
seal characters reading Jixiang ruyi (‘Auspicious as you wish’), Phillips 伉儷舊藏，售於紐約佳士得2009年3月24日，編
above a leafy spray of narcissus and lingzhi, the stone of an 號53。另一售於香港佳士得1996年4月28日，編號6。
even white colour flecked with caramel-russet
44.3 cm, 17⅜ in. 如意始見於隋唐，應與佛教有關。「如意」一詞出於印度
梵語「阿娜律」，古代僧人用作搔癢的用具。《音義指
HK$ 500,000-700,000 歸》曰： 「如意者，古之爪杖也，或骨角竹木，削作人手
指爪，柄可長三尺許。 或脊有癢，手所不到，用以搔抓，
US$ 64,500-90,500 如人之意。」晚唐時期，武宗滅佛，如意被道教視為吉祥
之物，自此心形如意頭常被靈芝形代之，成為長壽之象
A sceptre of similar size and carved on the head with peaches 徵。時至清康熙朝，如意成為宮廷裏皇帝、后妃之玩物，
in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Compendium of 寢殿中、寶座旁處處可見，以示事事如意、如願以償之美
Collections in the Palace Museum. Jade, vol. 8, Qing Dynasty, 意。清朝皇帝選后妃時，以如意為信物，也是皇家萬壽節
Beijing, 2011, pl. 62; one from the collection of W.D. Ridgeway, 必備之禮物。《吉祥如意文物特展圖錄》，國立故宮博物
was sold in our London rooms, 29th November 1977, lot 269; 院，台北，1995年，頁86-90，對如意有更深入地探討。
another from the collection of Sherry and Lawrence Phillips,
was sold at Christie’s New York, 24th March 2009, lot 53; and
a further example was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th April
1996, lot 6.

The history of sceptres dates back to the pre-Tang era
(518-907), with its origins possibly connected to Buddhism.
Originally used as back-scratchers, which are often depicted
in the hands of Buddhist holy figures, the ruyi sceptre became
a talisman that was presented to bestow good fortune. Its
shape changed over time and from the latter half of the Tang
dynasty, when there was a temporary decline in Buddhism,
Daoist followers adopted it as one of their auspicious objects.
From that time onwards, the heart-shaped head was often
rendered as a lingzhi fungus, a symbol of longevity. It was
during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722), that the
auspicious tradition of the ruyi (literally meaning ‘as you wish’)
was revived and became an imperial object. As the sceptre
had no practical function and could take on any shape of form
deemed suitable to express good wishes, it was the perfect
imperial gift. For a more detailed discussion of the history of
this good luck charm see the exhibition catalogue Auspicious
Ju-I Sceptres of China, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1995,
pp. 86-90.

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 193