Lot Essay
The inscription, Ling Yu Chang Sheng, can be translated as 'Mist comes from Cloud and Rain'.
It is highly unusual to find such Imperial quality workmanship on a stone that would have generally been considered a secondary material. One can only imagine that the delightful and most unusual markings on this stone appealed enough to the craftsman (and patron) to warrant the finest attention.
The shallow carving to one side can be compared to that of bats amidst clouds on a russet and green jadeite bottle formerly in the Bob C. Stevens Collection, illustrated by Rachelle R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far from the World, New York, 1994, pp. 114-115, no. 44. See, also, Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and Tokyo, 1980, pp. 114-115, no. 376
It is highly unusual to find such Imperial quality workmanship on a stone that would have generally been considered a secondary material. One can only imagine that the delightful and most unusual markings on this stone appealed enough to the craftsman (and patron) to warrant the finest attention.
The shallow carving to one side can be compared to that of bats amidst clouds on a russet and green jadeite bottle formerly in the Bob C. Stevens Collection, illustrated by Rachelle R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far from the World, New York, 1994, pp. 114-115, no. 44. See, also, Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and Tokyo, 1980, pp. 114-115, no. 376