The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty is undoubtedly one of the greatest in Chinese history in respect to his collects ions and his appreciation of artistic masterpieces. Archaic jade formed an important part of his collects ion and his search for outstanding archaic jade saw no limit. The overwhelming majority of the archaic jade masterpieces that have survived until now were originally in his collects ion. These archaic jade pieces were kept and used as decoration in the various halls of the palace after having been appreciated and examined by the emperor. The present auction includes a masterpiece that was appreciated by the Emperor - a jade bi incised in gilt with the calligraphy of the emperor and with the 'dragon and phoenix' motif.

A Han dynasty bi is placed in the centre of a finely carved mounting. The front of the mounting is carved with the 'universe and bagua' motif while the back of the piece is incised in lishu with the date 35th year of the Qianlong reign (equivalent to 1770 A.D.) and an Imperial poem. The mounting is made up of three pieces that can be easily taken apart for inserting the jade bi. The construction of the mounting and the overall design of this piece represent a very high level of artistic achievement.

The importance of this piece lies in the jade bi. Jade expert Deng Shuping from the National Palace Museum in Taipei examined this bi carefully. Below are her observations:

The jade is of white and yellowish brown colour and has a 'soft' quality. The bi can be divided into an outer and an inner circle. The inner circle has a 'milky nail pattern' and the outer circle is incised with four dragons and a phoenix as well as the two characters yan and nian in zhuanshu. On the upper part, extending out from the frame there are two dragons. One of the heads of the dragons is front facing and the other faces sideways. One dragon has a curled nose, long eyebrows and long flower-like horn while the other dragon is called a chilong that can be frequently seen on Han jade pieces.

Han chilong are somet.mes s depicted with a long horn between two shorter horns. The phoenix is depicted with its head held back as if crying and on the top of its head there is a long horn. The space between the dragons and phoenix is filled with decorative clouds. Archeologists have found a large number of Eastern Han jade pieces engraved with the 'dragon and phoenix' pattern which in its style is different from that made in the Western Han period. The carving on the present bi is characteristic of Eastern Han style. From its size, quality of carving and incised calligraphy we can safely assume that the present piece is an imperial work made for the palace.

This study by Deng confirms the importance of the present bi. Firstly, it is of late Eastern Han period (for example, see fig. 1); secondly from its size and weight, as well as the fine workmanship of its carving it can be attributed as an imperial article. Hence it undoubtedly occupied a significant position in the imperial collects ion.

Next I would like to examine how the present bi may have entered the imperial collects ion. It is well known that the Qianlong Emperor was very fond of jade objects, especially pieces belonging to the three dynasties. He often examined and graded pieces personally. Imperial records show that all articles made of jade were given a grade such as jia and yi. Furthermore, after obtaining an archaic piece, the Emperor would write a poem to express his feelings or to praise the workmanship. He used jade for his study and to raise the level of his connoisseurship. He also used jade to express his emotions for the past. According to the records, the Qianlong Emperor wrote over forty-thousand poems, among which over 800 are on the subject of jade. The Qianlong Emperor not only collects ed archaic jade and wrote about them, he also had his poems copied onto the jade pieces. His writings provide important documentary evidence for our study and understanding of the Qianlong Emperor's jade connoisseurship.

The present jade bi appears to be one of the archaic pieces that the Qianlong Emperor paid closest attention to. For each piece of jade in his collects ion, he would without failure carry out his careful inspection and give the piece a 'connoisseur's comment'. For example on one occasion he wrote "jade of this type are numerous but when encountering the present one there is a need to write a poem"; another comment says, "I have many pieces but seeing this one gives me the opportunity to compose". These comments are the Emperor's reflections on his collects ion. After his examination, the Emperor would order the jade piece to be kept in the palace, placed in the 'hundred treasure box' (a box used for keeping his favourite works of art pieces) or have them mounted. Larger pieces were often inserted into precious wood mounting made of zitan or rosewood. The piece was then inscribed with the Emperor's calligraphy or poem, forming a perfect article of historical and artistic importance. For example, imperial records show that in the 35th year of the Qianlong reign, 'on the second day of the third month, Tai Jian handed in a piece of Han bi with the motif of 'sleeping cocoon', with the seal of a receipt from the Ruyi Hall. By Imperial Order: make a mounted jade bi.... On the twentieth day of the fifth month, a piece of Han jade bi with the motif of 'sleeping cocoon' is inserted into a dragon engraved zitan mounting. This is to be presented to the Emperor by Tai Jian. By Imperial Order: Give the inserted jade bi to Mao Qin and have the poem inscribed on the back. On the thirteenth day of the fifth month Tai Jian handed in a piece of inserted jade bi on zitan, accompanied with a plain piece of Han jade. By Imperial Oder: change the wood and insert the bi in the zitan mounting and engraved it with the 'Qian' character.

An imperial record dated to the 35th year of Qianlong's reign notes that in the Spring the Emperor saw a rare treasure, a large jade bi, and was deeply attracted to it. This 'treasure' was over one thousand and five hundred years old. The Emperor wrote a poem "in praise of the 'Long Life' Han jade bi" which was later included in the 86th juan of the Qing Gaozong yuzhi shi san ji. The Qianlong Emperor also ordered the jade carvers to incise his poem and to have the jade bi inserted into a zitan mounting with the same poem engraved on the back.

The present piece embodies all the design elements that the Qianlong Emperor regarded with great appreciation. It has his poem and is carved with the design of the 'universe and bagua'. It is undoubtedly an imperial masterpiece.

The poem can be translated:

In Praise of the Han Jade Pendant of Longevity
The carving of the Bi so intricate,
so delicately fine all around,
the chi-dragons restfully intertwined
Tie and wear it, honouring ancestors,
with a fine ribbon
In Three Dynasty objects
the jade respository is abundant
Similarly bearing messages -
blessings of happiness, may life be long
Alas, now unearthed to grace the world
Kindling the infinite quest -
"To whom did you belong?"

郭福祥

就藝術品收藏和鑑賞而言，清代乾隆時期可以與歷史上任何一個時期相媲美，乾隆皇帝也可以與歷史上任何一位皇帝相媲美，而且更廣泛，更全面。對古玉的搜求和鑑賞則是其藝術鑑賞和收藏活動的重要方面之一。清宮遺存的古代玉器，絕大多數是在乾隆時期搜集的。這些古代玉器在經過乾隆帝御覽後，被廣泛收存、陳設於各處宮殿之內，成為一道韻致典雅的風景。此次香港蘇富比公司準備拍賣的這件「乾隆御賞嵌延年龍鳳紋璧紫檀插屏」就是在乾隆帝古玉鑑賞過程中出現的一件典型作品。

此件插屏的屏芯正面、底座、披水牙和站牙上均雕刻細密精緻的紋飾。其中屏芯正面中間被掏空，四周有凹槽，鑲嵌一塊漢代出廓玉璧，玉璧中心用雕有乾卦圖案的紫檀木圓臍固著。插屏背面芯板上刻隸書填金乾隆庚寅年（乾隆三十五年，即西元1770年）御題詩一首。芯板被分為三塊，通過內裡的凹槽用兩根木條連接，非常容易拆裝，巧妙地解決了從背面裝取玉璧的問題。整個插屏設計新穎，雕刻精細，具有很高的工藝水準。

這件插屏中的真正主角應該是鑲嵌在插屏中的那塊玉璧。對於此件玉璧，台北故宮博物院的玉器專家鄧淑蘋女士曾進行過仔細研究，這裡不妨將她對這件玉璧的描述和研究結論概括於後：玉璧呈白色和黃褐色，質地甚為溫潤。璧分內外兩圈，內圈琢排列整齊的乳釘紋。外圈鏤雕四龍一鳳及篆體「延」、「年」二字。上方出廓，鏤雕二龍。龍頭的表現分側面與正面兩種。側面造型的龍頭多有卷鼻、長眉、花式分叉長角或彎曲的獨角；正面造型的龍頭為東漢玉器上常見的螭龍，上寬下窄倒梯形臉，兩片琢有陰線飾紋的雙耳外，還有兩個水滴形的小角，有時兩角之間還有一長角。龍體多作誇張地扭轉回繞，上飾小圓圈紋與平行短線。尾端常似蓬鬆的雲彩或盛開的花朵。鳳鳥則作回首鳴啼狀，頭頂有長角。雙龍間、龍體側和鳳足之下，填以雲氣般的鏤空紋飾。考古發現的東漢鏤雕玉器甚多，可知此時的龍鳳紋，精神氣勢已異於西漢，裝飾意味日濃。而這件延年龍鳳紋璧更呈現出東漢晚期的那種崇尚華麗堆砌的裝飾趣味，相對地減低了神靈動物原有的精神與氣韻的風格，應屬東漢晚期的作品（例見圖一）。由其尺寸及雕工可定為宮廷御用寶物。鄧女士的研究已經給出了這件玉璧非常恰當的定位：其一，從裝飾意味濃厚的紋飾及鏤雕銘文可以看出此璧為東漢晚期的玉器；其二，由其體量和雕工可定為宮廷御用之物。從中我們不難得知此件玉璧在玉器收藏中的重要地位。

對於這件玉璧，同樣值得關注的還有它後來進入清宮內府收藏，為乾隆帝所激賞的歷史際遇。我們知道，乾隆皇帝非常喜愛玉器，尤其是三代玉，對於進入清宮內府收藏的古代玉器，往往親自進行鑑別、定級。「內府銅玉諸器，率以甲乙別等第。」現在留存下來的清宮藏玉中許多都刻有甲、乙、丙的編號，就是他進行玉器鑑別活動的明證。不但如此，在得到一件珍貴玉器後，乾隆帝還往往為其題詩吟詠，或表達高興的心情，或對古人的製玉技術表示讚歎，或對古玉的稱謂用途進行考釋，或借物思古，抒發心性。據統計，乾隆一生御製詩四文萬餘首，其中涉及玉器的篇目之達八百餘首。對於這些詠玉器時，乾隆帝並不僅僅把它們收錄在詩集中就算了事，還要把它們琢在相應的玉器上。這些詩作為我們瞭解乾隆鑑考古玉的情況提供了難得的資料。

玉璧是乾隆帝在古玉收藏和鑑賞過程中十分關注的一個種類，每得一件，乾隆帝都要做細緻的觀察，題詩考鑑，「穀璧多無數，逢之率有詩」、「穀璧數弗可屈指，偶遇無題輒題耳」正是這種情況的真實寫照。對於這些古玉璧，乾隆帝在鑑賞之後都要求予以妥善保存，或配以囊匣放入百什箱（乾隆時期專門存放御玩藝術品的百寶箱）中，或配做托座陳設於宮殿中。而對於體量較大者，更多的時用紫檀、紅木等高檔材料製成插屏，將玉璧鑲嵌於其中，並在插屏上刻相應的御題詩，使之成為歷史與藝術完美結合的藝術佳構。在清宮檔案中，製作這種嵌玉璧插屏的記載屢見不鮮。僅以乾隆三十五年為例，就有「三月初二日，太監胡世傑交漢玉臥蠶璧一件，系如意館刻得字。傳旨：配做插屏……閏五月二十日庫掌四德將漢玉臥蠶璧一件配得雕龍紫檀木插屏一座，持進交太監胡世傑呈進。奉旨：將插屏交懋勤殿背後刻詩」；「閏五月十三日，太監胡世傑交紫檀木插屏一件，隨漢玉素璧一件。傳旨：將插屏另換芯板下槽，玉璧安穩，配紫檀木臍雕乾字」；「十月三十日，太監胡世傑交漢玉夔龍璧一件。傳旨：著配插屏。」「十二月十二日，太監胡世傑交漢玉穀璧一件，系道凝堂撤下，本文璧始姬周非卯金。傳旨：著配做插屏……於三十七年三月初五日將嵌漢玉穀璧紫檀木插屏一座刻詩，持進交內殿帶往熱河訖」等等。

香港蘇富比公司此次徴集到的「乾隆御賞嵌延年龍鳳紋璧紫檀插屏」同樣製作於乾隆三十五年。這一年的春天，當乾隆皇帝看到一雕工精美難得一見的大型玉璧珍品時，便被這件一千五百年前原本是宮廷御用的寶物深深吸引，當即為其寫下了《詠漢玉延年佩》的詩作，這首詩後來被收錄於《清高宗御製詩三集》卷八十六中。乾隆帝還命玉工將該詩刻於玉璧的外緣上，又為玉璧配製了紫檀木插屏，並將同一首御製詩刻到屏芯背板上。

在製作嵌玉璧插屏過程中乾隆帝通常特別關注的某些元素，如在玉璧及插屏上刻有乾卦圖案的圓形木臍等在這件插屏中都有完美的體現。這使此件拍品在乾隆帝御賞的嵌玉璧插屏中具有相當的典型性和代表性，可謂同類作品中的精品。