Agarwood carving of Shanglin Park, Qing dynasty, Qianlong reign (1736-1795)

Agarwood carving of Shanglin Park, Qing dynasty, Qianlong reign (1736-1795)

• Image Number: K1D001138N000000000PAE
• Dynasty: Qing dynasty
• Category: Miscellaneous objects
• Function: Furnisher
• Material: Plants/wood/aloe
• Description:
  It is carved from a piece of aloe wood. It is based on the theme of Shanglin Fu written by Sima Xiangru, a famous writer in the Western Han Dynasty, to record the magnificence of Shanglin Garden in the Imperial Garden and the grandeur of the hunting scene of the Son of Heaven. It can be seen from the long story scroll of Qiu Ying’s “Shanglin Scroll”, an old Tibetan legend in the Qing Palace, that this piece is composed in a landscape style, and the most wonderful “riding a chariot”, “riding a horse to watch hunting”, and “climbing the stage to watch the sea” in the “Shanglin Scroll” are cleverly scattered on the cylindrical aloe wood in order. It uses relief and carving techniques to carve mountains, forests, trees, stones, people’s costumes, animal bodies and architectural decorations, making it a valuable and exquisite display. In February of the 10th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, after being equipped with bundles and wooden boxes, it was put into the second class collection of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.