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Lot Essay
Three very closely comparable but slightly larger (approximately 37 cm. long) yellow jade ruyi dated to the 18th century have been published. The first in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the exhibition Auspicious Ju-I Scepters of China, Taipei, 1995 and illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 93, no. 20. A second in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, was exhibited in Japan in 1982 and illustrated in Pekin kokyo hakubutsuinten, Tokyo, 1982, p. 47. The third ruyi, as with the other examples displaying very close similarities in the carving of the chilong and relief decoration, was sold at Bonham's London, 12 May 2011, lot 81.
Yellow jade was highly regarded as early as the Han dynasty but rose to particular prominence during the Qianlong reign. Yellow jade carvings are relatively rare compared to their spinach-green or white jade counterparts, the material is generally reserved for the very finest carvings and vessels of the Qianlong period, often carved with archaistic designs or forms. Although surviving yellow jade carvings dating to the Ming dynasty are rare, it is noted in the Ming dynasty text Gegu Yaolun (Essentials of Chinese Connoisseurship) that yellow jade is considered the most valuable type of jade, superior even to mutton-fat jade.
Yellow jade was highly regarded as early as the Han dynasty but rose to particular prominence during the Qianlong reign. Yellow jade carvings are relatively rare compared to their spinach-green or white jade counterparts, the material is generally reserved for the very finest carvings and vessels of the Qianlong period, often carved with archaistic designs or forms. Although surviving yellow jade carvings dating to the Ming dynasty are rare, it is noted in the Ming dynasty text Gegu Yaolun (Essentials of Chinese Connoisseurship) that yellow jade is considered the most valuable type of jade, superior even to mutton-fat jade.