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Li Juelu
Qianlong-era court ivory carver, sent to the palace workshops on the recommendation of the Guangdong customs superintendent, whose signed nested boxes of 1763 survive
A craft workshop centres on a potter's wheel holding a tall celadon vase, amid racks of red lacquer boxes, an embroidery frame with a floral design, shelves of celadon ware, carved wooden panels and stacked logs, while one craftsman works at a table and another stands at a glowing kiln.
Also known as Ivory carver Li Juelu
- Roles
- Master Craftsmen
Li Juelu was an ivory carver at the Qianlong court. According to the Palace Museum, Li Yongbiao, superintendent of the Guangdong customs, recommended him to the palace in 1758, and he worked on ivory commissions in the Imperial Workshops for more than ten years on a monthly stipend until 1773, when he was allowed home to care for his aged parents. Very little of his work survives. A set of openwork ivory nested boxes in the Palace Museum, incised on the base as respectfully made by the humble servant Li Juelu in spring 1763, is the only piece known to bear his signature.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; served in the Qing palace workshops 1758–1773