Page 42 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art June 2015 Hong Kong

THE PROPERTY OF AN ENGLISH FAMILY
英國家族藏品

20 Compare a very similarly carved white jade circular screen, Qianlong,
A MAGNIFICENT WHITE JADE DOUBLE-SIDED CIRCULAR illustrated in Christie’s 20 Years in Hong Kong, 2006, p.370, sold at
SCREEN Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 3006. See also a white
Qianlong jade circular screen, Qianlong, from the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge,
Crisply carved on one side with a mountain landscape, featuring a Massachusetts, similarly carved with two boys ringing a musical stone,
pavilion with two boys playing a musical stone within the terraced illustrated by R.Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and
ground, a scholar accompanied by an attendant approaches the steps Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pp.152-153, no.123 (top image,
leading upwards from the side, two further scholars, one with a peony one of a pair) and later sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 November
branch and one holding a ruyi sceptre, accompanied by a boy with a 2007, lot 1511.
peach branch, standing on a rocky landing, all amidst rocks and pine
trees, the reverse with a stag and doe in a mountain landscape with a See also a pale green jade circular screen, Qianlong mark and of the
crane perched on one leg and another in flight, the white stone with a period, from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Noble Virtuosity:
small area of attractive russet inclusions, wood stand. Imperial Jades of the Qing Dynasty from the Palace Museum, Macau,
22cm (8 5/8in) diam. (2). 2012, pl.40, similarly carved with a stag and doe. For another
white jade circular screen from the Musée National du Château de
HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000 Fontainenbleau (inv.no. F 1478 C), see M.Crick, Chine Impériale:
US$130,000 - 190,000 Splendeurs de la Dynasties Qing (1644-1911), Geneva, 2014, pp.152-
153.
清乾隆 白玉雕松鶴福祿壽圖硯屏

Provenance 來源: 白玉泛青，質潤色勻，部份帶有皮色。屏為圓形，正面雕仙山亭台樓
An English private collection and thence by descent 閣，福、祿、壽三壽星分別手持靈芝、如意及桃枝行走山間，身後小
童跟隨，亭台前有兩小童，一童子手持靈芝，另一童子回首擊磬。屏
英國私人舊藏，後由家族繼承 反面雕松鶴雙鹿圖，寓意長壽吉祥。

Circular screens such as the present lot are amongst the most 雕刻此類圓形硯屏對玉雕工匠的技藝及選材均有極高的要求，工匠需
prestigious form of jade carvings, requiring an exceptionally large 要選用大塊玉質上乘的玉料進行雕琢，此類玉料極其珍貴。此件圓形
and nearly flawless raw jade boulder for its production. The thick 硯屏玉質柔潤，用料講究，厚度達1厘米，使得玉匠雕刻得以深淺自
jade disc, up to 1cm at the edge, allowed the carving on both sides 如，將工藝發揮得淋漓盡致。
to be unusually deep, with the varying depths allowing the natural
translucency of the stone to shine through. The crispness of the details 此類硯屏為清代宮廷文房陳設，具有類似繪畫的視覺效果，乾隆帝尤
contrasts with the smooth areas of the rocky cliffs, perhaps reflecting 其寵愛此類具有「畫意」的玉器，清宮檔案中也曾有記載乾隆帝命宮
both the meticulous order and the expansive imagination of the ideal 廷造玉作坊工匠按照宮廷繪畫對玉器進行雕刻，見楊伯達，「北京故
scholar’s mind. 宮清宮舊藏乾隆玉器」，刊於《Arts of Asia》，1992年3-4月。

The Qianlong emperor is recorded as having commissioned jade 參見一例極為相似的清乾隆白玉雕圓形硯屏，著錄於《香港佳士得
screens to be carved based on paintings from the classical canon. 20年》，2006年，頁370，後於香港佳士得售出，2010年12月1日，
A number of classical paintings from the emperor’s own collection 編號3006。另見福格藝術博物館舊藏一例，與本拍品類似，著錄於
were ordered to be reproduced in jades such as the painting entitled R.Kleiner，《Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone
Travellers in the Mountain, by Guan Tong of the Five Dynasties period. Hartman》，香港，1996年，編號123，後於香港佳士得售出，2007
The Qianlong emperor’s appreciation of jade ‘landscape’ screens is 年11月27日，編號1511。
demonstrated in one of his poems, as discussed in an essay by Yang
Boda, Arts of Asia, ‘Jade: Emperor Ch’ien Lung’s Collection in the 北京故宮博物院藏一件類似的乾隆圓形硯屏，見《君子比德：故宮
Palace Museum, Peking’, March-April 1992, which may be translated 珍藏清代玉器精品集》，澳門，2012年，圖版40。另見國立楓丹白
as follows: 露宮博物館藏一件白玉雕圓形硯屏（博物館編號F1478C），著錄於
M.Crick，《Chine Impériale: Splendeurs de la Dynasties Qing (1644-
‘This piece of precious jade slab is from Khotan. It is unsuitable for 1911)》，鮑氏基金，日內瓦，2014年，頁152-153。
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’.

Such scenes of scholars and attendants dwarfed by vast mountain
landscapes reflect the ideal of a peaceful retirement from public service
at the end of a successful career: a dreamlike desire perhaps even
more remote from the lifelong service of the emperor. The reverse of
the present lot echoes the front in its depiction of remote pines and
rocks, whilst the cranes and the stag and doe represent wishes for
longevity, and the latter also marital bliss.

40 | BONHAMS