A finely carved white jade box and cover Qing dynasty, Qianlong period | 清乾隆 白玉八寶獻壽蓋盒

This charming box is exquisitely carved with a long-tailed bird among swaying millet sprays and lingzhi sprigs. The sides are decorated with cartouches enclosing the Eight Buddhist Emblems (bajixiang), interspersed with stylised characters for longevity (shou). It is rare to find boxes of this size and motif. Compare a related box from the Baur Collection, illustrated in Pierre-Francis Schneeberger, The Baur Collection: Chinese Jades and Other Hardstones, Boston, 1976; and a 'bajixiang' box from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, sold in our New York rooms, 9th October 1987, lot 173. See also a 'wufu and bajixiang' box, formerly in the collection of Stanley Charles Nott, sold at Christie's New York, 22nd March 2007, lot 96.

For boxes of similar type and size, with undecorated sides, see a 'magpie' example in the British Museum, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 29:11, possibly the same box from the collection of Geoffrey C. Hughes, sold at Christie's New York, 27th November 1991, lot 191; a 'prunus' box sold in our New York rooms, 31st March 2005, lot 77; and also a 'quail' box from the collection of Sir Quo-Wei Lee, sold in these rooms, 8th October 2019, lot 107.

Boxes of this circular form were used for holding incense and often displayed together with an incense burner and a small vase. Two jade garniture sets of this type, but the boxes carved on the cover with different motifs, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, are illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Jade, vol. 10: Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pls 112 and 113.

本蓋盒瑩白可人，蓋面淺雕一綬帶鳥翻飛於麥穗叢中，意寓長壽康寧。盒邊開光淺雕八吉祥，其間陰刻壽字，合曰八寶獻壽，更顯祥瑞。八吉祥者，源自古印度宗教儀式，亦有用於帝皇登基大典，代表釋迦牟尼得道之時，眾神呈獻之寶，後於元朝傳入中原，成為吉祥象徵。

本品的尺寸和圖案並不常見。對照一類例，為鮑爾收藏，載於 Pierre-Francis Schneeberger，《鮑爾珍藏中國玉器》，波士頓，1976年，編號 B53。另有一八吉祥蓋盒，為芝加哥藝術博物館收藏，後售於紐約蘇富比1987年10月9日，編號173。再比較一五福捧壽八吉祥蓋盒，為 Stanley Charles Nott 收藏，後售於紐約佳士得2007年3月22日，編號96。

另可參照相關蓋盒例，盒邊光素無紋：倫敦大英博物館藏一喜鵲石榴蓋盒，載於羅森，《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，圖版29:11，可能為 Geoffrey C. Hughes 舊藏，原售於紐約佳士得1991年11月27日，編號191。另有一桃樹蓋盒，售於紐約蘇富比2005年3月31日，編號77。再有一歲歲平安蓋盒例，為利國偉爵士收藏，後售於香港蘇富比2019年10月8日，編號107。

如此圓形蓋盒多用作香盒，旁邊擺放香爐、香瓶各一尊，合稱爐瓶三事。北京故宮博物院珍藏兩組玉爐瓶，其中香盒圖案與本品不同，見《故宮博物院藏品大系・玉器編》，卷10：清，北京，2011年，圖版112及113。