A rare imperial inscribed celadon jade plaque Mark and Period of Qianlong

the thin translucent celadon green stone carved in intaglio with three imperial poems on the subjects of the plum blossoms at Xiangxuehai, each carved following the Qianlong emperor's own script and filled-in in with gold, dated spring of the dingzhou year (1757), spring of the renwu year (1762) and spring of the yiyou year (1765) respectively, and each signed Qianlong yubi ('In the Imperial Hand of Qianlong'), with seals Qianlong yubi, Qianlong chenhan, and weijing weiyi, all enclosed with five incised dragons on the border filled-in with gold, the stone with natural veins and inclusions

The overall condition is very good with little wear to the gilding.
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Xiangxuehai in the Dengwei Mountains, 30 kilometers southwest of Suzhou in Jiangsu province, is well known for its plum blossoms grown exclusively south of the Yangtze River. The town is planted with plum trees, a practice that began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished throughout the following dynasties. In late winter and early spring, plum blossom appears as a sea of flowers, and is known as a "sea of fragrant snow" (Xiangxuehai).  The air, perfumed with an intoxicating scent has inspired Chinese poets and painters for centuries. 

The Qianlong emperor was so in love with the plum blossoms at Xiangxuehai that he made to six trips there and wrote thirteen poems about it.  Three of his poems written in the 22nd, 27th and 30th year of his reign (1757, 1762 and 1765) and recorded in the Anthology of Imperial Qianlong Poems, Qing Gao Zong Yu Zhi Shi Wen Quan Ji, are inscribed on the current plaque.  Still to this date, Xiangxuehai remains o­ne of China's most famous places to see and enjoy the blooming plum trees.  A stele inscribed with one of the three poems on this plaque is still standing at its original site.  

A similar jade plaque of smaller size inscribed with Su Shi's poem The Red Cliffs on one side and a scene from the poem on the other side, is in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, is illustrated in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, pp. 188-189, pl. 63.