Page 82 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2015 Hong Kong

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 紳士藏品

42 ≈

A RARE EMBELLISHED PALE GREEN JADE BRUSHPOT,
BITONG
Late Qing Dynasty
Raised on a stand with four cabriole legs and pierced vine scroll
aprons, the exterior inlaid with lapis lazuli, soapstone, jadeite,
turquoise, ruby matrix, rock crystal and further white, spinach-green
and russet jade embellishments, depicting a continuous scene of
figures in various leisurely pursuits, including a scholar playing qin
under a pine tree, two young attendants serving tea, three Daoist wise
men admiring a scroll painting of a taiji, all against a serene landscape
of waterfalls and mountains issuing lush bamboo, lingzhi and nandina,
the stone of a pale green tone with natural russet inclusions.
14.4cm (5 3/4in) high

HK$150,000 - 200,000
US$19,000 - 26,000

清晚期 青玉嵌百寶仙山問道圖筆筒

Provenance 來源:
Sotheby’s London, 24 June 1980, lot 236 (dated as Qianlong)
Sold by Charlotte Horstmann and Gerald Godfrey, Hong Kong,
on 6 January 1997
A Western private collection

倫敦蘇富比，1980年6月24日，拍品236（時代定為清乾隆）
Charlotte Horstmann與Gerald Godfrey，香港，1997年1月6日
西方私人收藏

It is likely that the technique of embellishing jade with semi-precious
stones was originally inspired by Mughal jade semi-precious stone
inlaid vessels, which were popular during the 18th century as
demonstrated by the large numbers extant in the imperial collections
in Beijing and Taipei. However, the present jade brushpot is a Chinese
innovation of this technique, using the jade ‘canvas’ to create idealised
landscape scenes, suitable for the scholar’s desk - a technique more
often used since the late Ming dynasty on precious wood boxes, and
during the Qing dynasty also on zitan brushpots; see Small Refined
articles of the Study. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum, Shanghai, 2009, pls.42-44.

See a related hardstone-embellished white jade ruyi sceptre, 18th/19th
century, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st June 2011, lot 3640.

百寶嵌工藝始於明代，或受到印度莫臥兒王朝嵌寶石之玉器而影響，
至清代在宮廷盛行，常見於紫檀或其他木料上鑲嵌，見《故宮博物院
藏文物珍品全集：竹木牙雕刻》，上海，2009年，圖42-44。香港佳
士得曾售出一件十八/十九世紀白玉嵌百寶如意，2011年6月1日，編
號3640。

80 | BONHAMS