Note: Ivory ruyi sceptres are surprisingly extremely rare given the predilection for ivory carvings and ruyi in the 18th century Imperial court. Compare to a slightly shorter stained ivory example composed of the entwined branches of a gourd plant included in the joint Oriental Ceramics Society and British Museum exhibition, Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, London, 1984 and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 160. A stained ivory example carved with blossoming peony branches from the Simon Kwan Collection was included in the Chinese University of Hong Kong exhibition Chinese Ivories from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong, 1990, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 146. A plain ivory sceptre carved with a similar arrangement of fruiting and flowering branches was sold at Christie's New York, 15 September 2009, lot 225.