CHINE, DYNASTIE QING (1644-1911)

Yellow wax stone (huanglashi) was highly prized in the Qing dynasty for its warm lustrous surface and naturally sculptural appearance. Favoured by scholars and collectors alongside Taihu, Lingbi and Ying stones, fine examples were appreciated for their balance of texture, colour and evocative form. The present example is carved in the suixing (“following the natural form”) manner, preserving the stone’s inherent contours with minimal intervention, in keeping with the literati aesthetic that valued the spontaneity and transformative power of nature over excessive artifice.The present large stone is mounted on an original tree trunk form wood stand skilfully carved to imitate the rugged texture of anaged root burl. Such rustic stands, particularly associated with southern China during the Qing period, were intended to enhance the impression of the stone as a miniature mountain landscape. Large complete examples retaining their original fitted stands remain comparatively rare. Compare two yellow wax stone boulders from The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth: Part I, sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2015, lots 2 and 49. See also a pair of related examples from the Zongzhutang Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1118.