Page 302 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong Sotheby's April 2017

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A FINELY CARVED INSCRIBED ARCHAISTIC 清乾隆 白玉透雕「宜子孫」螭龍紋璧
WHITE JADE ‘YI ZISUN’ PLAQUE 《乾隆年製》、
MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG 《身字一百四十七號》款

the lustrous white stone finely reticulated as a disc enclosing
a pair of dragons with contorted bodies flanking a ring dividing
the three characters of the phrase, yi zisun (‘to benefit our
sons and grandsons’), below a figure seated on the back of
an ibex in the midst of flowing, asymmetrical scrolls, the thin
sides incised with a four-character reign mark on one side
and an eight-character inscription on the other reading shen
zi yibaisishiqi hao (‘number 147, character shen’), the semi-
translucent stone of even white colour
10.5 cm, 4⅛ in.

HK$ 500,000-700,000
US$ 64,500-90,500

This finely carved white jade plaque is part of a small but 281. Another, of similar type, in the Qing court collection, which
distinct group of white jade plaques finely incised with incorporates the four characters, chang yi zisun in the lower
Qianlong nianzhi on the edge of the disc and on the other with section, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures
a number in clerical script according to the characters in the of the Palace Museum - 42 - Jadewares (III), Hong Kong, 1995,
text Qian zi wen (‘Thousand characters Essay’), see James C. p. 158, no. 127. A Qianlong period plaque, very similar to this
S. Lin, The Immortal Stone. Chinese Jades from the Neolithic latter plaque, formerly in the Oscar Raphael Collection, and
to the Twentieth Century, Cambridge, 2009, pp. 84-87. The carved with the four characters chang yi zisun and inscribed
design of the disc itself closely follow a Han dynasty prototype liang zi yibailiushiba hao (‘number 168, character liang’), is
illustrated by two Western Han dynasty openwork plaques of illustrated by James C.S. Lin in The Immortal Stone. Chinese
similar shape from the Qing court collection illustrated in The Jades from the Neolithic to the Twentieth Century, Cambridge,
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 2009, p. 84.
40, Jadewares (I), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 257, nos 215 and 216.
Three further plaques of this type have been sold at auction.
Several plaques of similar size and slightly varying designs but The first, carved with four characters changyi zisun, inscribed
incorporating the characters yi zisun (‘to benefit our sons and with the same reign mark in clerical script, on the outer edge,
grandsons’) in seal script style are known, most of them in and numbered ren zi qishijiu hao (‘number 79, character ren’),
the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, others in private was sold at Christie’s New York, 16th September 2010, lot
collections. 1094. The second, inscribed with the mark zhi zi yibailiushijiu
hao (‘number 169, character zhi’), was sold at Sotheby’s
An excavated plaque, very similar in design to the present Hong Kong, 27th April 2003, lot 3, and was later included in
plaque, which is dated to the Qianlong period and also the exhibition, A Romance with Jade from the De An Tang
incorporates the three characters yi zisun in its design, is in Collection, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004, no. 21. The third,
the collection of the National Museum of China, Beijing, and with the characters yang zi erbai hao (‘number 200, character
illustrated in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan Guancang Wenwu yang’), from the collection of L. de Luca, was sold at Sotheby’s
Yanjiu Congshu - yuqi juan/Studies of the Collections of the Hong Kong, 8th April 2011, lot 2805.
National Museum of China: Jade, Shanghai, 2007, p. 340, no.

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300 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比