清乾隆 御製紫檀填金萬壽盌模子

the bowl-shaped model carved with rounded sides rising to an everted galleried rim, resting on a slightly splayed foot with a galleried footrim, the body decorated in columns of three with neatly incised and gilt with one hundred and twenty variations of the shou character, the flat top with a circular raised fillet bordering the raised rim

The quality of the zitan utilised to carve this rare piece, combined with the skill in which the shou characters are incised and gilt, strongly point to it being the product of the Palace Workshops. It was probably created for use as a model for a cloisonné enamel bowl. For an example of a cloisonné enamel bowl decorated with similar rows of shou characters, sharing similar unusual features as the current piece, including the heavy overall construction, the raised thick foot, and steep walls with just a hint of a flare at the rim, see the Jiaqing-reign marked cloisonné bowl from the Qing court collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Metal-bodied Enamel Ware. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 154.