AN IMPERIAL INSCRIBED ZITAN-MOUNTED JADE BI DISC BI: WARRING STATES PERIODSTAND: MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG |

the jade of circular form pierced with a central aperture, crisply worked to each side with the 'whirlpool' pattern amongst C-scrolls, the stone of a variegated celadon-green tone with calcified milky-brown patches, mounted within a circular zitan stand carved and gilt with an imperial poem dated to Qianlong jichou year (in accordance with 1769), the front fitted with a zitan boss to the centre to secure the jade, decorated with a trigram qian filled in with gilt and flanked by a pair of stylised kui dragons, all enclosed within key-fret borders, the underside of the stand and the boss inscribed with a yi character in gilt

A closely related example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, bearing the same imperial poem, is illustrated in Masterworks of Chinese Jade in the National Palace Museum. Supplement, Taipei, 1973. The single characters inscribed on the bases of the zitan stand and boss on the present piece are in accordance to a grading system in the Qing court collections. These characters, notably jia, yi, bing (indicating the A, B, C classifications respectively), denote the rank of a piece which was usually bestowed by the Qianlong emperor himself. For relevant discussions and a Liao-dynasty jade bowl with a similarly inscribed wood stand, see The All Complete Qianlong: the Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong, Taipei, 2013, cat. no. II-2.10.