Page 80 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2015 Hong Kong

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THE PROPERTY OF A LADY 女士藏品

41 The Qianlong emperor’s appreciation of jade landscape screens is
A RARE WHITE JADE DOUBLE-SIDED SCREEN demonstrated in one of his poems, as discussed in an essay by Yang
Qianlong Boda, ‘Jade: Emperor Ch’ien Lung’s Collection in the Palace Museum,
Skilfully carved in varying relief depicting two sages walking towards a Peking’, Arts of Asia, March-April 1992, which may be translated as
pavilion, accompanied by an attendant holding a banner inscribed with follows:
the character xi, all set within a mountainous landscape detailed with
pine and wutong trees and a fast-flowing stream, the reverse carved ‘This piece of precious jade slab is from Khotan. It is unsuitable for
with a stag and a doe in a similar setting, the attractive stone of an making vessels such as the dragon hu and animal lei. In order to fully
even white tone, wood stand. utilise it, it is carved into a panel with the scene of “A Riverside City on
23.5cm x 17cm (9 1/4in x 6 3/4in) (2) a Spring Morning”. Imagination is exerted to turn the natural undulation
or ruggedness into an appropriate landscape... It takes ten days to
HK$600,000 - 800,000 carve with a tiny bit of water and five days to shape a piece of rock.
US$77,000 - 100,000 The crafting is indeed very time-consuming.’

清乾隆 白玉雙面雕仙人祝壽圖硯屏

Provenance 來源: In utilising jade for screens, the master carvers turned this prized
An English private collection, by repute acquired from John Sparks medium into a pictorial canvas. The opulence of the jade screen is
Ltd., London, circa 1960-70s particularly noteworthy considering the quality of the white jade stone.

英國私人收藏，傳於1960-70年代購於倫敦古董商John Sparks

78 | BONHAMS