Page 43 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Jades, Met Museum Irving Collection NYC

Fig. 1 The pair to the present screen from
the collection of Sir John Woolf, illustrated
in The Woolf Collection of Chinese Jade,
Sotheby’s, London, 2013, cat. no. 10.
⚾ᶨġ冯㛔⑩ㆸ⮵ᷳ㍺⯷炻ẵ⣓䇝⢓㓞啷炻庱
˪ẵ⣓㓞啷ᷕ⚳䌱☐˫炻ΐ㔎喯⭴㭼炻ijıIJĴ
⸜炻䶐嘇IJı

This table screen is striking for the brilliant green tone of 㛔㍺⯷䌱刚侈䵈炻ġ冯⎎ᶨ㍺⯷ㆸ⮵炻⼴侭↢冒
the stone from which it was fashioned and is the pair to a œįńįġŃųŶŤŦˣ⋿㕗㉱⣓⤛䌳䐒渿㭧ᶳẍ⍲䲬侘ɀ
table screen formerly in the collections of R.C. Bruce, H.M.
ẵ⣓䇝⢓㓞啷炻㚦⯽㕤˪ᷕ⚳喅埻⚳晃⯽奥㚫˫
Queen Marie of Yugoslavia, and Sir John Woolf, included in
the exhibition International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal 炻䘯⭞伶埻⬠昊炻ΐ㔎炻IJĺĴĶ⸜炻䶐嘇IJĹĹķ炻䎦Ⱄ
Academy of Art, London, 1935, cat. no. 1886, and now in the ẵ⣓㓞啷炻抬˪ẵ⣓㓞啷ᷕ⚳䌱☐˫炻ΐ㔎喯⭴
Woolf Collection, illustrated in The Woolf Collection of Chinese
㭼炻ijıIJĴ⸜炻䶐嘇IJı炷⚾ᶨ炸ˤ㛔㍺⯷䲳梦ⶏ䓐䌱
Jade, Sotheby’s, London, 2013, cat. no. 10 (Þ g. 1). The natural
striations and subtle variations in the stone’s color, cleverly 㛸䲳䎮䆇忈㯜䲳崟ặ炻冯ẵ⣓㓞啷ᷳ㍺⯷䚠役ˤ
incorporated into the design of both screens to depict rippling 㬌⢾炻ℑ⯷䲳梦⼟⤪↢冒ⷭ⹎㚜攟ᷳㇳ⌟炻Ṏ⤪
water, appear to match. Furthermore, the two screens read like
⛘䎮⚾凔䃉㖶栗䃎溆炻ᶼ悐ấ䲳梦塩↢㟮⢾ˤ
extracts from sections of a longer handscroll.
This table screen and its pair are also remarkable on account of 㛔⯷⍲冯℞ㆸ⮵ᷳ⎎ᶨ⯷炻⇣䔓⋿⬳椾悥㴁㰇㜕
their detailed depictions of a city, possibly showing two di! erent
ⶆ大㷾䘬䷩厗㘗䶣ˤ⎎ᶨ㍺⯷䲳晽㔠㧳忋㍍⬌
views of West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, the capital
city of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). The pair to this ⰙⲞ冯映⛘炻㛔㍺⯷⇯㍷丒暟Ⲙ⟼怈㘗ẍ⍲⋿⯷
piece appears to depict Solitary Mountain (Gushan), an island Ⱉ㶐ヰ⮢ˤ㜕ⶆ桐㘗⤪䔓炻᷎ẍ⺢䭱⍲㕟㧳㘗刚
in the West Lake connected to land through a series of bridges,
倆⎵炻冒Ⓒẋ⶚ㆸ䁢⎵⊅㘗溆炻⏠⺽忲Ṣ⇵⼨奨
while the present example may depict the tall Leifeng pagoda in
the distance, and the Jingci temple at the foot of Nanping Hill. 岆ˤ⬳军㶭ẋ㛇攻炻大㷾ṵ䃞㶙⍿㷠Ṣ㬉彶炻Ḧ
To this day, Hangzhou is renowned for its beautiful scenery, 昮ⷅ⋿ⶉṎ㚱⇘大㷾㷠奥ˤ吋恎忼炷IJķĺĺĮIJĸķĺ⸜炸
magniÞ cent buildings and numerous bridges, and the tradition
˪大㷾⋩㘗˫ἄ㕤Ḧ昮IJĸĶIJ⸜椾⹎⋿ⶉᷳ⇵炻ᶲġ
of sightseeing in Hangzhou can be traced back at least to the
Tang dynasty (618-907). From the Song period through to the 柴⽉墥娑炻堐忼㛇⼭㷠奥大㷾㭟↯ᷳね炷˪埴䭳
Qing dynasty, Hangzhou continued to attract numerous visitors, 晐埴炼Ḧ昮⋿ⶉ埴㛶䭙ᷕ䘬㚠䔓˫炻⚳䩳㓭⭖⌂
including the Qianlong Emperor, who visited the city during his
䈑昊炻⎘⊿炻ijıIJĸ⸜炻䶐嘇Ĵ炸ˤ
Southern Inspection Tours. On the handscroll The Ten Views
of West Lake, which was painted by Dong Bongda (1699-1769) ⇣∫䱦䳘❶ⶪ桐㘗ᷳ侈䌱晽㍺⯷朆ⷠ暋⼿炻㭼
before the Emperor’s Þ rst southern inspection tour in 1751,
庫ᶨἳ炻㚦⯽㕤˪㔔⣑㟤䈑烉ᷕ⚳㬟ẋ䌱☐⮶嬨˫
a poem composed by the Emperor the year before captures
炻⚳䩳㓭⭖⌂䈑昊炻⎘⊿炻ijıIJIJ⸜炻䶐嘇ĸĮĶĮij烊⎎
his eagerness to travel there (Travelling with Art. Painting and
Calligraphy Accompanying the Qianlong Emperor’s Southern 㭼ᶨ⮵ἳ炻䎦啷㕤⎘⊿㬟⎚⌂䈑棐炻㚦⯽㕤˪㶭
Tours, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2017, cat. no. 3).
ẋ䌱晽ᷳ伶˫炻㬟⎚⌂䈑棐炻⎘⊿炻IJĺĺĹ⸜炻䶐嘇
Jadeite table screens carved with such detailed sceneries IJĸ⍲IJĹˤ⎎㭼ᶨἳ炻ᶨ朊⇣㖍奨Ⲙ炻⎎ᶨ朊⇣䌱䘯
of cities are highly unusual; a jadeite screen carved with a
landscape in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included 枪炻↢冒⽟⬱➪㓞啷炻˪䌱䶋烉⽟⬱➪啷䌱˫炻㓭
in the Museum’s exhibition Jingtian gewu. Zhongguo lidai yuqi ⭖⌂䈑昊炻⊿Ṕ炻ijııĵ⸜炻䶐嘇ķĴ烊ℵ㭼ᶨἳ炻↢
daodu / Art in Quest of Heaven and Earth. A Guide to Chinese 冒ŕũŰŮűŴŰůĮŔŤũŸŢţ㓞啷炻ⓖ㕤ΐ㔎喯⭴㭼ijıIJķ
Jades through the Ages, Taipei, 2011, cat. no. 7-5-2; and a larger
pair of screens, in the National Museum of History, Taipei, was ⸜IJIJ㚰ĺ㖍炻䶐嘇ĸˤ
included in the exhibition Jade: Ch’ing Dynasty Treasures, Taipei,
1998, cat. nos 17 and 18. See also a white nephrite screen carved
with Mount Riguan on one side and Baiyun Cave on the reverse,
from the De An Tang Collection, included in the exhibition A
Romance with Jade, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004, cat. no. 63;
and another from the Thompson-Schwab Collection, sold in our
London rooms, 9th November 2016, lot 7.

CHINESE ART FROM THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: THE FLORENCE AND HERBERT IRVING GIFT 41