Page 56 - Sothebys Fine Chinese Art London, November 2018

Green jade brush pots featuring immortals or sages in scenic 如本品飾仙人山水紋飾之碧玉筆筒屬乾隆年間清宮造辦處出
mountainous landscapes belonged to the classic repertoire of 品典型，部份作例帶清高宗御詩。乾隆年間，筆筒材質以白
the imperial jade workshops during the Qianlong period (1736- 玉或碧玉最受推崇， 同期金銀、瓷、漆、掐絲或銅器作例則
1795), and were occasionally inscribed with the Emperor’s
own poems. Jade, both white and spinach-green, would 甚為罕見。筆筒，通用於宮廷各處，亦用於御賜高官重臣、
appear to have been the most valued medium for such vessels 或上奉皇帝，器型多樣，碧玉山水筆筒尤受歡迎。此類筆筒
in the Qianlong reign, as contemporary examples in other 傳世作例甚少，而玉材每塊均屬唯一，故此製成之筆筒亦無
valued materials, such as precious metals, porcelain, lacquer, 完全相同者，每品紋飾設計獨一無二。
cloisonné or bronze, are rare.
本筆筒圓柱渾圓無瑕，紋飾環繞筒身而繪，環筒觀賞，猶如
On the perfectly cylindrical form of brush pots such as this, the 捲軸徐徐展開。玉，乃天然材質，如此紋飾手法，必需精挑
relief carving was treated like a continuous handscroll painting.
To create such an even picture with a natural material, required 上乘玉材，紋飾方可如此絲絲入扣，而原玉形狀，則無從稽
the careful selection of a jade boulder of exceptional quality, the 考。如若環繞筆筒拍攝全景照片，則可更仔細觀賞紋飾構圖
original shape of which can no longer be surmised. The superb 之精美絕倫。比較一例，何東爵士收藏，該筆筒紋飾之全景
composition of the landscapes carved around the sides of these 照圖載於 Jessica Rawson，《 Chinese Jade from the Neo-
brush pots becomes apparent when panoramic photographs are lithic to the Qing》展覽圖錄，大英博物館，倫敦，1995年，
taken, which enable the full picture to be ‘unrolled’, as done, for 頁99，圖95；頁416，圖3，編號29: 18。
example, with the brush pot in the Sir Joseph Hotung collection,
illustrated by Jessica Rawson in the exhibition catalogue Chinese 本品紋飾刻劃五位仙人手持壽桃，其中一位身伴童子，山巒
Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, The British Museum, London, 起伏，木林青蔥，並刻香椿、梧桐及壽松三樹，寓意祥瑞。
1995, p. 99, fig. 95; p. 416, fig. 3; cat. no. 29: 18.
比較數例，仙人山水紋飾相近，現存於台北故宮博物院及北
Green jade brush pots with similar scenes of immortals and 京故宮博物院；台北故宮收藏之例缺筒足，載於《宮廷之
sages in scenic landscape settings are preserved both in the
National Palace Museum, Taipei, and the Palace Museum, 雅：清代仿古及畫意玉器特展圖錄》，台北，1997年，編號
Beijing; for an example from the former collection, but lacking 58；北京故宮收藏三例，其一筒型較細長，載於《故宮博物
the feet, see Gongting zhi ya. Qingdai fanggu ji huayi yuqi tezhan 院藏品大系．玉器（三）》，香港，1995年，圖版168-170
tulu/The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of ；再比一無筒足例，載於《中國玉器全集》，卷6：清：石家
Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch’ing Court, National Palace 莊，1991年，圖版278。
Museum, Taipei, 1997, cat. no. 58; for three related pieces from
the latter collection, one of them of more narrow proportions, 此外尚可比較一例，山水紋飾相近，曾展於東方陶瓷學會展
see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. 覽《Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages》，維多利亞與艾
Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pls 168-170; and a fourth 爾伯特博物館，倫敦，1975年，編號415，同書並載一例，曾
without feet, in Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of
Chinese jades], vol. 6: Qing, Shijiazhuang, 1991, pl. 278. 屬E.L. Paget、J. Buchanan-Jardine爵士、Bernard Eckstein
爵士及Jonathan Woolf爵士收藏，編號413，後者曾展於《
A spinach-green jade brush pot carved with a similar landscape 伍夫收藏中國玉器》，蘇富比，倫敦，2013年，編號45。另
was also included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition
Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, 比一例，亦帶御詩，曾屬P. Ayers收藏，後轉入Thompson-
London, 1975, cat. no. 415, together with one, from the collections Schwab雅蓄，兩度售於倫敦蘇富比，先後為1961年1月31
of E.L. Paget, Sir J. Buchanan-Jardine, Sir Bernard Eckstein and 日，編號177及2016年11月9日，編號17。
Sir Jonathan Woolf, cat. no. 413, the latter also included in the
exhibition The Woolf Collection of Chinese Jade, Sotheby’s,
London, 2013, cat. no. 45. A similar brush pot inscribed with
an imperial poem, from the collection of P. Ayers and later the
Thompson-Schwab collection, was sold in our London rooms,
31st January 1961, lot 177, and again, 9th November 2016, lot 17.
Compare also a similar spinach-green jade brushpot depicting
‘The Five Old Men of Suiyang’, from the collection of A. Knight,
sold at Christie’s London, 21st March 1966, lot 152, and again
in our Paris rooms, 22nd June 2017, lot 9. Two slightly smaller
examples, but without feet, include one with scholars and
immortals in a landscape, inscribed with an imperial poem and
dated Qianlong yimao xia (summer of 1795), from the collection
of George H. Taber, sold in our New York rooms, 20th March
2012, lot 208; and another carved with figures and auspicious
beasts, sold twice in these rooms, 3rd April 1951, lot 189, and
5th May 1959, lot 164, and a third time in our Hong Kong rooms,
5th October 2011, lot 1910A.

54 SOTHEBY’S