SONG-MING DYNASTY (960-1644)

The incorporation of Shou character as part of the design within a bamboo-form border appears on jade carvings as early as the Song period, and became much more popular during the Ming and Qing periods. For a Song-dynasty jade openwork plaque with similar design of cranes and shou character within a circular bamboo-form border, see the example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (II), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 54, no.45 (fig. 1). Compare also to a set of Ming-dynasty white jade plaques with Shou characters, one of which is illustrated in ibid., no. 168; and a Ming-dynasty white jade openwork belt plaque with a shou character, rabbits and lotus flower motif from the Michael S. L. Liu Collection, exhibited in Virtuous Treasures: Chinese Jades for the Scholar’s Table, Hong Kong, 2008, no.86.

The various motifs on the current plaque convey multiple auspicious meanings, the ‘Three Friends of Winter’, pine, prunus and bamboo, represents perseverance and resilience; deer, crane and the character shou all symbolise longevity; and bat is a homophone for fortune.