A FINELY CARVED IMPERIAL SPINACH-GREEN JADE ‘WUFU WUDAI TANG’ BOOK QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD |

mounted as an album with the right axis bound, the zitan covers each with an incised gilt border and the front cover further incised and gilt with the title of the text, Yuzhi wufu wudai tang ji, in a vertical panel, the paper board leaves covered in yellow silk brocade patterned with five-clawed dragons striding amidst swirling clouds, the central six leaves each enclosing a rectangular spinach-green jade tablet painted in gilt lacquer to both sides starting with a frontispiece illustrating two confronting five-clawed dragons grasping for a shou character over waves and rocks, followed by the Qianlong Emperor’s text and commentary, and a final image of a five-clawed dragon pursuing a ‘flaming pearl’

Collection of Gibson Fahnestock (1888-1977).
Collection of Blanka Beatrice Herda (1905-1999), and thence by descent.

The wood covers detached. The fourth jade tablet has been mounted backwards. Some staining to the paper and silk, particularly along the bound edge, and with associated lifting and repairs. Scattered wormholes to the silk and paper board. Abrasion to some of the gilt lacquer characters, rendering some characters illegible or absent.
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The full text of the jade book is recorded in Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quan ji [Anthology of imperial Qianlong poems and text], Yuzhi wen san ji [Imperial text, vol. 3], juan 7, pp. 4-6. Wufu wudai Tang (The Hall of Five Blessings and Five Generations) is a room in Jingfugong (Palace of Great Blessings). The Qianlong Emperor had a great-great-grandson in the 49th year of his reign (1784) and all five generations were together in one Hall. The Qianlong Emperor wrote, "I was blessed to have a great-great-grandson where five generations are in one Hall. This is a rare auspicious matter in ancient or modern times. In ancient times, the blessed person may name a Hall to commemorate the occasion. Thus, Wufu wudai tang is an appropriate name for the Hall that I am going to name." The Qianlong Emperor wrote the calligraphy Wufu wudai tang on two bian'e (horizontal panels) in the 52nd year of his reign (1787). In addition to Jingfugong, one panel was hung in the Chengde Summer Mountain Retreat, as recorded in the present text. The Emperor also ordered the making of related seals to commemorate the occasion.

This rare legacy of the Qianlong era originally belonged to Gibson Fahnestock (1888-1977), who gifted it to Blanka Beatrice Herda (1905-1999), the grandmother of the current owner. The influential Fahnestock Family co-founded First Nation Bank of New York, the predecessor to Citigroup. Gibson Fahnestock lived for a time in China and was close friends with Puyi, the last Emperor. According to family tradition, the jade book was given to him by Pu Yi.