QIANLONG (1736-95)

Details

A FINE IMPERIAL INSCRIBED CELADON JADE MOUNTAIN
QIANLONG (1736-95)
Well carved following the shape of the boulder on the front with two bearded figures, one carrying a spray of lingzhi, in a mountainous landscape dotted with leafy trees, below a poetic inscription, the reverse with a waterfall sprouting from the top of a canyon, the skin of the stone cleverly used to add texture and depth, the stone well polished and of pale green tone with some russet inclusions
8 in. (20.5 cm.) wide

Provenance

With Spink & Son, London (original receipt available)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Carved jade mountain boulders of this type may be found in a variety of sizes, representing miniature idealised landscapes upon which the scholar-collector could contemplate and escape. As R. Kleiner mentions in Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 160, "they complement the miniature gardens and trees cultivated by most scholars." The inclusion of the imperial poem serves to combine text and imagery, thereby enhancing the overall monumentality of the boulder.

A pale celadon jade mountain boulder of slightly larger size (25.2 cm.) is illustrated by R. Kleiner, op. cit., pl. 127. Like the present lot, this boulder is also inscribed with an imperial poem. Compare also a series of jade mountain boulders in the Palace Museum, Beijing, some with imperial poems, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, 1991, vol. 6, pls. 252-256.

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