Celadon jade of even color with russet inclusions, excellent surface polish China, Kangxi period (1662 – 1722) Finely finished to a smooth and highly tactile polish, this piece is notable for the attractive combination of sophisticated high relief and open work carving. The scepter is naturalistically carved as a large branch of lingzhi, with the largest cap forming the head of the scepter, surmounted by a small forked lingzhi branch. A small bat can be found on the scepter head as well. The knotted shaft is encircled by further smaller openwork lingzhi branches. Ruyi scepters, by definition, are propitious objects favored for their shape, which represents the expression ‘as you wish’ and for their similarity to lingzhi, the immortality fungus. Jade scepters were rarely made prior to the 18th century given the scarcity of large boulders and only became available in larger quantities after the Western campaigns of 1760, which secured control over the area of Uyghur region of Eastern Turkistan, in present day Xinjiang. Jade boulders from these areas were brought to the court, where the best specimens were selected to be carved by artisans working in the palace workshop, in the jade workshops of Suzhou or in those belonging to the Huai and Changlu administrations. Shape: Figural shape Dimensions: 35 cm (height), 7,5 cm (length), 3,5 cm (width) Condition: One repair to upper part of shaft; excellent hand patina Provenance: Old Austrian Private collection, assembled in the 1930s to early 1950s Literature comparison: Christie’s, Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 29 November 2017, lot 2926 (for a very similar sceptre of slightly larger size). 康熙年間青白玉雕如意 青白玉，表面光滑 中國，康熙年間 (1662 – 1722) 細膩精緻的表面光滑，高度拋光，這件作品以極其繁複的浮雕和開放式雕刻而成。如意權杖被自然地雕刻成靈芝的一大分支，最大的靈芝頭形成了權杖的頭部，跨越了一個小叉形的靈芝分支。在杖頭上可以找到一隻小蝙蝠。打結的軸被更小的透雕靈芝分支包圍。 顧名思義，如意代表著“如你所願”，與與靈芝這種不朽菌類有相似之處。 玉器在十八世紀之前很少出現，因為大塊玉石的稀缺性，1760年平定新疆之後才開始大批量生產，此次統一確保了對現今新疆的東突厥斯坦維吾爾地區的控制。這些地區的翡翠巨石被帶到了宮廷，在那裡最好的石料被御用工匠們以及蘇州的玉器工坊或者淮河和長祿當局的工作人員雕刻而成。 形狀：隨形而雕 尺寸： 35x7,5x3,5 cm (高x長x 寬) 品相：對軸上部有一處修復，包漿極好 奧地利私人老收藏，上世紀三十年代至五十年代初購入 文獻參考：佳士得《重要中國瓷器與工藝品》，香港，2017年11月29日，2926號拍品 (非常相似的一件如意，尺寸稍大)。