QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

In the 18^th century, lavish jardinières with various types of ‘plants’ were used as decorations in the imperial palace. In Tributes to Guandong to the Qing Court, Beijing, 1987, p. 55. Yang Boda discusses the diversity of such ‘potted landscapes’ or ‘potted flowers’ and notes that all media could be employed, organic and inorganic, to recreate these miniature plants and rockeries 'for the viewing enjoyment of the Emperor and his concubines within the living halls of the palace complex'. The choice of subject usually carried some kind of auspicious meaning. The lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) is a woody fungus that was attributed with many medicinal qualities and was an ingredient in certain potions of immortality. As seen here, the lingzhi is a wish-fulfilling symbol as well as an emblem of longevity.
A very similar pair of cloisonné and champlevé enamel lingzhi jardinières was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2005, lot 1586, while similar stems of champlevé enamel gilt-bronze lingzhi can be seen ‘growing’ from a pair of painted glass-inset octagonal jardinières sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 7 July 2003, lot 593.
A small lingzhi motif can be seen issuing from a gilt-bronze and enameled gu-form vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, vol. 10, Beijing, 1996, p. 195, no. 348. Another gilt-bronze gu-form vase inlaid with jade and turquoise from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, includes a hardstone-inlaid lingzhi branch and is illustrated in The Special Exhibition of Incense Burners and Perfumers Throughout the Dynasties, Taipei, 1994, p. 250, no. 104.