Comprising individual jade carvings, as well as tailor-made gilt-bronze and painted enamel elements, the present candlestick is an imperial collage conceptualised and commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor, one of the most influential art patrons in Chinese history. Documented to have been made by imperial order in 1739, it is presumably the first of its kind. This type of candlesticks formed part of the Qing imperial New Year calligraphy ritual. At midnight on the first day of a year, the emperor was supposed to light a candle on ‘the jade candlestick of eternal harmony’, drink Tusu wine from ‘the gold cup of permanent stability’, and write blessings in cinnabar and ink using ‘the million-year pen’, to express the wish for perpetual prosperity and everlasting power.

A record for the gilding workshop which dates from the 28th day in the 11th month of the 4th year (28th December 1739, fig. 1) states, ‘Eunuch Hu Shijie, as proposed by Leader of the 7th rank Samuha and Treasurer Bai Shixiu, presented a white jade carving of a mythical beast and a white jade prunus-shaped cupstand (together with a zitan wood stand), for which His Majesty ordered an enamel vase to be installed at the top in order to create a candlestick named yuzhu changdiao (‘the jade candlestick of eternal harmony’). To accompany the candlestick, the Emperor further commissioned a gold vessel jin’ou yonggu (‘the gold cup of permanent stability’) and a fitted ivory stand. A design draft had to be submitted for approval before production began.’

On the same day, a design was proposed and confirmed, indicating that the candlestick had to be made with a gilt-bronze pricket, a gilt-bronze section in the form of scrolling clouds and an enamel vase. The jade dish should be incised with a four-character reign mark and the inscription yuzhu changdiao – the name of the candlestick.

A subsequent entry, which dates from the 30th day in the 12th month of the same year (28th January 1740) states, ‘Leader of the 7th rank Samuha presented a candlestick which comprised of a white jade stand, a white jade mythical beast, a fitted enamel support, and a gilt-bronze base. It was inscribed with the characters yuzhu changdiao on the jade cupstand.’ This record also includes a gold vessel supported on ‘elephant trunk’ feet with a comprehensive listing of its embellishments.

However, finding the candlestick and the vessel less than satisfactory, on the 3rd day of the following year (31st January 1740) the Emperor demanded that their details be improved. He also ordered fitted glass and zitan wood boxes to be made. He must have been particularly discontent with the gold vessel, as he commissioned two copies to be made based on specific requirements. The dimensions had to match that of the candlestick, special attention to the dragon-shaped handles and inlays should be paid, and no production was allowed until the Emperor approved the design. Although the archive documents show no indication on the exact date when the candlestick was resubmitted, the fitted wood boxes and new pair of vessels were approved for use in the 12th month of the same year, suggesting that the enhancement of the candlestick was accepted on an earlier date.

A celadon jade candlestick from the Qing court collection in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, bears the same inscription, yet without gilt-bronze or enamel decoration. The lobed dish is raised on a floral scroll decorated shaft supported on a jade vase base with three spandrels in openwork; see Hou Yili, ‘Jin’ou yonggu yu yuzhu changdiao [The gold cup of permanent stability and the jade candlestick of eternal harmony]’, The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art, no. 375, June 2014, pp. 74-80, figs 1, 3, 4, 5 (fig. 2), together with a related candlestick with an undecorated shaft in the Palace Museum, Beijing, fig. 11, missing the openwork spandrels at the base. Hou compares the two examples in Taipei and Beijing to the archive documents and speculates that instead of enhancing the original work, new candlesticks were made in response to the Emperor’s criticism in the 5th year (p. 77). The detailed descriptions of the archive entry – from the jade beast and the prunus-shaped cupstand to the ‘scrolling cloud’ support – all point to the present work. It is very likely to be the prototype of this type of candlestick, conceptualised, commissioned and approved by the Qianlong Emperor after enhancements were made.

Jade candlesticks similar to the examples in the palace museums are included in a few court paintings such as The Qianlong Emperor Enjoying the Lunar New Year, a collaborative work painted by artists including Shen Yuan (d. 1747). Despite the discrepancies from the 4th year design, as Xu Xiaodong notes, this type of jade candlesticks must have started to be produced early in the reign, no later than the 12th year (1747); see ‘Jotting on Four jinouyonggu Cups’, Forbidden City Journal, December 2012, pp. 88-99.

For other objects required for the Qing imperial New Year calligraphy ritual, see four vessels preserved in the two palace museums and the Wallace Collection, London, illustrated in Hou, op.cit., figs 1, 2, 7, 8, 10 (fig. 2), and also in Xu, op.cit., figs 4-7, together with two related pens in the Palace Museum, Beijing, figs 11 and 12.

「玉燭長調」燭臺，採現成呈進玉件，搭配鎏金銅及北京銅胎畫琺瑯部件，貼拼成巧，清檔中有詳盡記錄，是據乾隆四年（1739年）御旨設計而成，應是同類器物之雛本，極為珍罕。原與「金甌永固」盃匹配，乃元旦開筆儀式不可或缺之品。每歲元旦子時，皇帝點燃玉燭，用金甌飲屠蘇酒，執萬年枝筆，先後以硃、墨書寫吉語，以祈萬事調和、江山永固。

清宮造辨處活計檔鍍金作有載（圖一），乾隆四年十一月二十八日「七品首領薩木哈催總白世秀來說太監胡世傑交：白玉異獸件、白玉梅瓣托一件（隨紫檀木座）。傳旨着將白玉異獸、白玉梅瓣托，配做一蠟杆，上安法瑯穩瓶，其名『玉燭長調』。再配一金盃，其名『金甌永固』，蠟杆配象牙座。先畫樣呈覽，准時再做。」

同日畫樣已成，奉旨照樣准做，並指明座上配「銅鍍金流雲」，蠟杆、瓶子分別以銅鍍金及琺瑯製，玉盤上刻「玉燭長調」，並署「乾隆年製」款。

「於本年十二月三十日七品首領薩木哈將白玉托一件、白玉異獸一件配得法瑯挺、銅鍍金座，玉托上刻『玉燭長調』蠟杆一件」，同時持進象鼻足「金甌永固」，詳列嵌寶。

然乾隆帝對兩器要求嚴格，乾隆五年正月初三日，即元旦過後數天，命令「另行往細緻裏收拾」，並各配玻璃紫檀木匣。他對金盃似乎尤其不滿，特別下旨多做二件，尺寸須與此玉燭匹配，又對龍耳、嵌珠細節逐一列明要求，命呈畫樣，批准後才可照做。檔案雖未有提及燭臺後來情況，但相信乾隆帝早已滿意其改修，是以同年十二月呈進木匣時准批使用，新造成對金盃也在同月完成。

台北故宮清宮舊藏有一「玉燭長調」燭臺，通體玉製，花式承盤，玉挺浮雕弦紋及纏枝花葉，下配穩瓶，並有鏤雕花草插角三個，圖見侯怡利，〈金甌永固與玉燭長調〉，《故宮文物月刊》，第375期，2014年6月，頁74-80，圖 1、3、4、5（圖二），並載北京故宮藏例，柱身無紋，下方三片插角已佚，圖 11。侯氏研究兩岸宮藏玉燭，指與文獻所述有出入，以為乾隆五年造辦處重製而非改修（頁77）。然觀此嵌銅胎畫琺瑯燭臺，其異獸、梅托、流雲均可與檔案對照，可悉此應為乾隆帝構思旨造的玉燭雛本，推翻侯氏早前猜測。

許曉東則指，沈源（1747年卒）等合筆《乾隆歲朝行樂圖》畫中所繪玉燭與兩岸故宮藏例相似，因此推斷這類通體玉製燭臺，乾隆十二年（1747年）前已有製，但強調它們與四年設計雛本相差甚遠（〈近絕久非藉 滄桑全亦奇：記四件「金甌永固」盃及其他〉，《紫禁城》，2012年，第12期，頁88-99）。

除玉燭外，元旦試筆必備之金甌永固盃與萬年枝筆，前者有四例傳世，分別藏兩岸故宮及英國倫敦華萊士博物館，圖見侯怡利，圖 1、2、7、8、10（圖二）；或許曉東，圖 4-7，並刊北京故宮藏「萬年青」及「萬年枝」筆例，圖 11-12。