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Lot Essay
The present circular plaque is one of the finest white jade carvings of the 18th century Qianlong period. The attractive material is finely polished to a soft, glossy sheen. Jade was admired for its tactile quality and as early as the 9th century and Tang dynasty, scholars wrote poems praising its clarity and purity, and allegorizing these qualities with the aspirations of men.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this screen, is not only the large size but also the translucency of the carefully chosen material. Even though the panel measures approximately 1cm. in thickness, when light passes through the stone it enhances the differing depths of the picturesque landscape scene. The viewer is easily transported into a tranquil place of rivers, flowing alongside lofty mountains, and the subtle wispy clouds above that form the frame-like border. The lapidary artist has masterfully captured an ethereal vignette where minute figures are seen to be in deep conversations against a backdrop of a vast and idyllic landscape.
Emperor Qianlong particularly advocated that jade mountains and carved panels should carry the spirit of paintings by famous past masters. It is recorded that a number of classical paintings from the Emperor's own collection were ordered to be reproduced in jades such as the well-known painting entitled, Travellers in the Mountain, by the eminent painter Guan Tong of the Five Dynasties (AD 907-960). Jade landscape carvings of this type were particularly favoured by the Emperor. In one of Qianlong's poems, as discussed in an essay by Yang Boda, cf. Arts of Asia, 'Jade: Emperor Ch'ien Lung's collection in the Palace Museum, Peking', March-April 1992, the Emperor noted in reference to a jade panel:
'This piece of precious jade slab is from Khotan. It is unsuitable for making vessels such as the dragon hu and animal Lei. In order to fully utilise it, it is carved into a panel with the scene of "A Riverside City on a Spring Morning". Imagination is exerted to turn the natural undulation or ruggedness into an appropriate landscape... It takes ten days to carve with a tiny bit of water and five days to shape a piece of rock. The crafting is indeed very time-consuming'.
The circular panel is mounted on an elaborate wood stand and would have been placed to decorate the side or main tables in the Qing dynasty imperial halls.
A pair of white jade screens of similar size and depicting very similar scenes, almost certainly from the same series and probably by the same group of craftsmen was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, Important Chinese Jades from the Personal Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Part II, 27 November 2007, lot 1511.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this screen, is not only the large size but also the translucency of the carefully chosen material. Even though the panel measures approximately 1cm. in thickness, when light passes through the stone it enhances the differing depths of the picturesque landscape scene. The viewer is easily transported into a tranquil place of rivers, flowing alongside lofty mountains, and the subtle wispy clouds above that form the frame-like border. The lapidary artist has masterfully captured an ethereal vignette where minute figures are seen to be in deep conversations against a backdrop of a vast and idyllic landscape.
Emperor Qianlong particularly advocated that jade mountains and carved panels should carry the spirit of paintings by famous past masters. It is recorded that a number of classical paintings from the Emperor's own collection were ordered to be reproduced in jades such as the well-known painting entitled, Travellers in the Mountain, by the eminent painter Guan Tong of the Five Dynasties (AD 907-960). Jade landscape carvings of this type were particularly favoured by the Emperor. In one of Qianlong's poems, as discussed in an essay by Yang Boda, cf. Arts of Asia, 'Jade: Emperor Ch'ien Lung's collection in the Palace Museum, Peking', March-April 1992, the Emperor noted in reference to a jade panel:
'This piece of precious jade slab is from Khotan. It is unsuitable for making vessels such as the dragon hu and animal Lei. In order to fully utilise it, it is carved into a panel with the scene of "A Riverside City on a Spring Morning". Imagination is exerted to turn the natural undulation or ruggedness into an appropriate landscape... It takes ten days to carve with a tiny bit of water and five days to shape a piece of rock. The crafting is indeed very time-consuming'.
The circular panel is mounted on an elaborate wood stand and would have been placed to decorate the side or main tables in the Qing dynasty imperial halls.
A pair of white jade screens of similar size and depicting very similar scenes, almost certainly from the same series and probably by the same group of craftsmen was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, Important Chinese Jades from the Personal Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Part II, 27 November 2007, lot 1511.