Skip to main content
Bonhams
Search

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

A rare Chinese group of the Tyrolean Dancers, Qianlong period, circa 1752
FOUR CHINESE YIXING WARES Late Qing dynasty - 20th century

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

FIVE BURMESE AND THAI GILTWOOD FIGURES OF BUDDHA Late 19th/20th century
TWO JAPANESE CELADON GLAZED STUDIO CERAMICS
Huang Shanshou (1855-1919) Dragons in Clouds
Birodo Yuzen Meiji era (1868-1912)
TWO JAPANESE BRONZE SCHOLAR'S OBJECTS Meiji/Taisho era
A KOREAN UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AND COPPER-RED-DECORATED 'GRAPEVINE' GLOBULAR JAR Late Joseon dynasty
A JAPANESE SIX-PANEL 'FARM SCENE' FOLDING SCREEN Late 19th/early 20th century
A KOREAN FOUR-PANEL 'PEONIES AND CALLIGRAPHY' FOLDING SCREEN Late Joseon dynasty
AN INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL 'LADIES' SNUFF BOTTLE, SIGNED YE ZHONGSAN 1919
A CHINESE YELLOW GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE 19th century
A FAMILLE-ROSE ENAMELED PORCELAIN COVERED BALUSTER JAR 18th/19th century
A PAINTED LACQUERED-WOOD FOUR-DOOR CABINET Early 20th century
Previous Lot
Next Lot
A white jade-inset ruyi sceptre The jade 15th/16th century, the sceptre later image 1
A white jade-inset ruyi sceptre The jade 15th/16th century, the sceptre later image 2
A white jade-inset ruyi sceptre The jade 15th/16th century, the sceptre later image 3
Lot 58

A white jade-inset ruyi sceptre
The jade 15th/16th century, the sceptre later

Asian Art
13 – 14 May 2019, 10:30 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £10,062.50 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

A white jade-inset ruyi sceptre

The jade 15th/16th century, the sceptre later
The curved hardwood sceptre embellished with silver wire-inlaid shou characters, the large rectangular head, mid-section and smaller terminal end set with three white jade plaques elaborately carved in openwork with birds and flowers.
55cm (21 5/8in) long

Footnotes

Provenance: A French private collection

Deriving from either an Indian Buddhist talking stick or simply a Chinese backscratcher, the ruyi sceptre became a ubiquitous gift in imperial circles during the Qing Dynasty - the Palace Museum, Beijing, houses over three-thousand examples in varying precious materials.
The presentation of this ritual sceptre would have symbolised the bestowing of good fortune through the meaning of ruyi, 'as you wish'.

As jade would have been highly valued it is not unusual that earlier plaques would have been re-fitted on later artworks. Compare a hardwood ruyi sceptre fitted with earlier jade pieces, Yongzheng/Qianlong, and a lacquer ruyi sceptre also fitted with earlier jade, Yongzheng/Qianlong, both from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by E.S.Rawski and J.Rawson, China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795, London, 2005, Catalogue, nos.276 and 278.

Compare also with a similar white jade openwork plaque carved with geese amidst reeds, Ming Dynasty, from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (I), Beijing, 2008, pl.259.

Finally, see a similar silver-wire inlaid lacquered ruyi sceptre with earlier Ming Dynasty jade plaques sold in our New Bond Street rooms, 10 November 2011, lot 323.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A rare Chinese group of the Tyrolean Dancers, Qianlong period, circa 1752
FOUR CHINESE YIXING WARES Late Qing dynasty - 20th century
FIVE BURMESE AND THAI GILTWOOD FIGURES OF BUDDHA Late 19th/20th century
TWO JAPANESE CELADON GLAZED STUDIO CERAMICS
Huang Shanshou (1855-1919) Dragons in Clouds
Birodo Yuzen Meiji era (1868-1912)
TWO JAPANESE BRONZE SCHOLAR'S OBJECTS Meiji/Taisho era
A KOREAN UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AND COPPER-RED-DECORATED 'GRAPEVINE' GLOBULAR JAR Late Joseon dynasty
A JAPANESE SIX-PANEL 'FARM SCENE' FOLDING SCREEN Late 19th/early 20th century
A KOREAN FOUR-PANEL 'PEONIES AND CALLIGRAPHY' FOLDING SCREEN Late Joseon dynasty
AN INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL 'LADIES' SNUFF BOTTLE, SIGNED YE ZHONGSAN 1919
A CHINESE YELLOW GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE 19th century
A FAMILLE-ROSE ENAMELED PORCELAIN COVERED BALUSTER JAR 18th/19th century
A PAINTED LACQUERED-WOOD FOUR-DOOR CABINET Early 20th century