Beschreibung:

Six rare and important Imperial Chinese inscribed jade "book" panels dated kangxi dingwei cyclical year (1667) The rectangular jade plaques neatly incised with Manchu script, the jade of grayish olive-green tone with russet inclusions, set in individual wood panels and joined to an elaborately carved wooden frame of a later period. H of each jade plaque: 9 3/4 in., 24.7 cm PROVENANCE: Property of a Colorado gentleman Acquired in Singapore early 1900s, thence by family descent. Translated to English and Mandarin Chinese in 1954 by Lee Seow Mong and C.M. Wong of the Imperial Court of Singapore. NOTES: According to court regulations, a jade book was presented to a newly endowed empress, empress dowager, or grand empress dowager when she was honored a laudatory title. This particular jade book documents that in November of the Lunar year of 1667 (December 31st, 1667 in the Western calendar), the fourteen year-old emperor bestowed the title of Luminous, Wise, Kind, Long-life, Polite, Simple, Peaceful, Admirable, Elegant, Auspicious, Honest, Gracious, Gentle, Dignified, Tranquil, and Harmonious Empress Dowager on his grandmother Xiaozhuang. Very few Imperial jade books survived from the period. A similar hue jade book of the same size dated to the Shunzhi period (1648), comprised of ten total plaques, was sold at Sotheby's New York in September of 2010. Another dark grey jade book of ten plaques, dated also to 1648, from the Qing Court collection, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 3.