CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, EPOQUE QIANLONG (1736-1795)

Buddhist emblems are made of a variety of materials such as in gilt-bronze, porcelain, cloisonné enamel, champlevé enamel and gilt-lacquered wood. The construction of the present two emblems raised on a lotus flower with the same type of stylized stems is relatively well-known. Closely related exemples of slightly larger gilt-lacquered wood Buddhist emblems is in situ in several halls in the Lama temple, Yonghe Gong, in Beijing. A set of other emblems of similar design, probably made entirely of gilt-bronze and enamel, is in situ on the third floor of the Pavilion of Raining Flowers in the Forbidden City, and is illustrated in Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, Forbidden City Press, Hong Kong, 1992, pl. 109-1.
Among the Eight Buddhist Emblems, the Paired Fish (shangyu) symbolizes conjugal happiness, fertility, protection and spritual liberation. The Umbrella (san) embodies spiritual authority, reverence and purity.