Page 141 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London

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113
A pale green and russet jade ‘pine-trunk’
brushpot, bitong
17th/18th century
The mottled stone cleverly retaining the russet areas as the deeply
whorled and knotted pine trunk, the green areas carved as the
branches and leaves on which perch three small tree shrews.
14.5cm (5¾in) high
£5,000 - 8,000
HK$62,000 - 100,000 CNY49,000 - 79,000

十七/十八世紀 青玉帶皮雕松紋筆筒
Provenance: an English private collection, purchased from Rare Art
Inc., New York, 20 March 1978
來源: 英國私人收藏 1978年3月20日購於紐約Rare Art Inc.
The form of the present brushpot takes its inspiration from bamboo
brushpots which were popular in the 17th/18th centuries, see
Chinese Bamboo Carving: Part I, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong
Kong, 1978, pl.6. The present brushpot is very ingeniously carved
to incorporate the inclusions into the finished design, successfully
emulating the natural knotted pine. A similar knotted pine trunk
brushpot, but with jade accessories, is illustrated by R.Kleiner,
Chinese Jades from the Collection of Simone and Alan Hartman,
Hong Kong, 1996, no.111.
Compare another related example from the Qing Court Collection,
inscribed with an Imperial poem, dated to the mid Qing Dynasty,
illustrated in Classics of Forbidden City: Scholar’s Paraphernalia,
Beijing, 2009, pl.38.

113 *

A green jade boulder
18th century
Of irregular form, ingeniously carved in varying relief depicting a sage
with an attendant in a mountainous landscape enclosing a pavilion
above gnarled pine trees, the stone of a pale green tone, wood
stand.
9cm (3½in) high (2).
£8,000 - 12,000
HK$100,000 - 150,000 CNY79,000 - 120,000

十八世紀 青玉雕山水人物圖山子
Provenance: an English private collection
來源:英國私人收藏
Jade carvings representing idyllic mountainous landscape scenes
were popular with scholars during the Qing Dynasty, frequently
portraying a single or larger number of sages often accompanied
by their attendants. Such mountain carving would have graced the
scholar’s desk, inspiring contemplation when studying the peaceful
contours of the austere jade cliffs, the pagoda hanging on a precipice
and the two figures making their way towards the gnarled evergreen
pine, representing long life and endurance.
Compare a white and russet jade mountain from the Qing Court
Collection, similarly carved with a sage and attendant walking
towards a wutong tree below an overhanging cliff supporting a
pagoda, Imperially inscribed, and attributed to the Qing Dynasty,
illustrated by Zheng Xinmiao, ed., in Compendium of Collections in
the Palace Museum: Jade, 8, Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl.118.

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