A GREYISH-BEIGE JADE-INSET SMALL ZITAN TABLE SCREEN
A GREYISH-BEIGE JADE-INSET SMALL ZITAN TABLE SCREEN
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A GREYISH-BEIGE JADE-INSET SMALL ZITAN TABLE SCREEN

JADE PLAQUE, SONG-YUAN DYNASTY (AD 960-1368); ZITAN SCREEN, 18TH-19TH CENTURY

Details
A GREYISH-BEIGE JADE-INSET SMALL ZITAN TABLE SCREEN
JADE PLAQUE, SONG-YUAN DYNASTY (AD 960-1368); ZITAN SCREEN, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
The rectangular, openwork plaque is carved on one side with a scene of a seated lady with elaborate coiffure accomanied by two female attendants holdign offerings, all below a pine tree. The scene also includes two cranes, one in flight, and a cluster of lingzhi growing at the base of the pine tree. The plaque is set within a finely carved zitan frame that fits into a separate, tiered zitan stand.
4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm.) wide, plaque
10 ¼ x 11 ¼ in. (26 x 28.6 cm.), screen

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Olivia Hamilton
Olivia Hamilton

Lot Essay


The distinctive, deep style of carving on the jade plaque, which features fine details and a dramatic combination of high and low relief carving, is characteristic of Liao, Song, Jin and Yuan-period jade carvings. The plaque is imbued with a remarkable liveliness, thanks to the fluid and bold carving, particularly in the lyrical depiction of the overhanging pine-tree branches set against dimpled and pierced rockwork.

A jade openwork plaque dated to the Song dynasty and carved with similar imagery of ladies below the overhanging branches of a pine tree, with cranes and lingzhi, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum Jadeware (II), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 104, no. 91. Also illustrated, p. 102, no. 89, is a white jade openwork ornament, also dated Song dynasty, which is carved as a phoenix supporting a female immortal whose hair is dressed in an elaborate coiffure with projections on the sides pierced with three holes, similar to that of the seated figure of the current plaque. An openwork jade plaque dated to the Song dynasty and carved with a very similar design to that of the current plaque was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2012, lot 3017. See, also, the related openwork plaque dated to the Song-Yuan dynasty, but carved from white and blackish-grey jade, from the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 15 March 2016, lot 108.

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