THREE JADE ARCHER'S RINGS IN THEIR ORIGINAL LACQUER BOX AND COVER MARKS AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

comprising a celadon and russet jade archer's ring incised with an imperial poem, followed by two seal marks reading qian and long respectively, all within two key-fret bands; a celadon and russet jade archer's ring worked in low relief with four roundels respectively enclosing the characters qian long, nian and zhi, surrounded by archaistic kui dragons, all against a finely incised leiwen ground; a russet jade archer's ring incised with an imperial poem followed by an inscription reading Qianlong yuzhi and a seal mark reading tai pu (great gem); and the original polychrome lacquer box of trefoil form, the top picked out in red, yellow and green with a large lotus bloom wreathed by foliate scrolls bearing three additional smaller lotus blooms, the sides of the box and cover similarly picked out with green foliate scrollwork, all against a black ground, the base incised and filled in with gilt with the characters Shufangzhai ('Studio of Cleansing Fragrance'), the interior wall lacquered red and set with pins and brocade lining to the base

A private Japanese collection, by repute.

Archer's thumb rings (she) have a history dating back to the Shang dynasty (1600-1100 BC), when they were generally made of bone or leather and were widely used to protect the thumb from the bow string when the arrow was discharged. One of the earliest excavated thumb rings, incised with animal mask decoration, was found in Fu Hao's tomb in Henan province.

By the Qing dynasty, the function of thumb rings changed from being purely a practical object to one that became prized as a decorative showpiece. Thumb rings were made in considerable quantities during the Qing dynasty, as the Manchus were keen archers and as rulers deemed it essential that the long tradition of archery continued. The Qianlong Emperor, similar to other Qing rulers, was a keen huntsman and was especially proud of his skills in archery.

The Qianlong Emperor had a vast collection of archer's thumb rings and his fondness for them is expressed in over fifty poems that he wrote in their praise, with the poem incised on the present celadon and russet jade ring being an appropriate example. Guo Fuxiang in his work on the Qianlong Emperor's ring collection notes that for the emperor the small archer's ring represented a profound source of knowledge. The Qianlong Emperor was keen to safeguard traditional Manchu culture and heritage and he regarded archery as the basic weaponry of the Manchu nation with the archer's ring the indispensable tool. Despite its small size, rings involved a high level of craftsmanship and the Qianlong Emperor, as with many of his jade pieces, was personally involved in the quality control of their making. For a detailed discussion of Qianlong period archer's thumb-rings see Guo Fuxiang, 'Qianlong's Imperial Jade Archer's Rings', By Heavenly Mandate, Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 2007, pp. 24-27.  

The poem on the celadon and russet jade thumb-ring, which was titled Ti huangse bixie yugui [On a yellow bixie jade gui tablet] and can be dated to 15th-30th November 1748, can be translated as follows:

          Sharp stream bends produce fine jades
          Plump and bright where cloud essence lies still.
          May we compare this object to sliced fat,
          Or has steamed chestnuts ever got it right?
          We could see it representing the rule of former kings,
          Or meet it as signifying the noble Confucian man.
          Why then must we examine the History of the Tang
          And force it to mean that it’s a celestial talisman.

The other poem on the russet jade thumb-ring, which was titled Guyu she [ancient jade archer’s thumb-ring] and dated to 20th/21st July 1773, can be translated as follows:

          This old jade is a real archer’s thumb ring now,
          So we still may call it by its ancient name,
          But antique thumb rings are not fit for use,  
          For in hooking bow strings it’s hard to achieve full draw.
          The name and reality this time both rightly accrue to it,
          Evidenced by my four arrows that seem planted in a tree,
          Just like when honored guests were ranked,
          And Reeds by the Way was chanted at the capital of Qi.

While archer's thumb rings were made in large quantities, few examples of ring cases have survived intact. A related set of three jade thumb rings, from the Qing court collection with Qianlong reign marks, was exhibited in Jinxiang yuzhi: Qingdai gongting baozhuang yishu / Qing Legacies: The Sumptuous Art of Imperial Packaging, Macao Museum of Art, Macau, 2000, cat. no. 98, together with the original zitan box and cover of similar trifoliate design. According to the exhibition catalogue, this particular trifoliate form is believed to echo the auspicious phrase lian zhong san yuan (‘hitting the target thrice’), representing the wish of obtaining first place in the three most important civil examinations or simply consecutive successes. See also a set of seven jade thumb rings, together with the original fitted cinnabar lacquer container, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27th April 1997, lot 94, and again in these rooms, 8th April 2007, lot 602.

The present box, similar to the Beijing Palace Museum set, is skilfully modelled of trifoliate form and set with pins and brocade lining to the interior to keep the rings from rubbing against each other. The base is inscribed with the name of the imperial studio Shufangzhai (‘Studio of Cleansing Fragrance’). Located at Conghuagong (‘Palace of Double Brilliance') in the Forbidden City, Beijing, the Studio belonged to the complex where the Qianlong Emperor resided in when he was still an imperial prince. After his enthronement, the Palace, together with the Studio, underwent extensive renovation and were bestowed with their current names.