Page 86 - Bonhams Hong Kong The Skinner Moon Flasks

108 Published and Illustrated:
A FINE PAIR OF IMPERIAL SPINACH-GREEN JADE DOUBLE-CARVED Jade: Ch’ing Dynasty Treasures, Taipei, 1997,
CIRCULAR TABLE SCREENS pp.66-69 and 272, no.20.
Qianlong/Jiaqing
Well carved in high relief on both sides featuring lush steep mountainous Exhibited:
landscapes with pine, cypress, wutong and plantain trees, lingzhi and shrubs, all The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Santa
amidst multi-layered rockwork and outcrops, with steps, streams and waterfalls, Ana, California, Jade: Ch’ing Dynasty
all below clouds; one screen carved to the front with Shoulao, the God of Treasures from the National Museum of
Longevity, standing in front of a pavilion above two young attendants carrying a History, Taiwan, 7 September 1997 - 1 March
hanging chime, qing, the reverse with a crane perched on rockwork and biting 1998
on a lingzhi; the second screen decorated with a scholar and two attendants The Houston Museum of Natural Science,
carrying lotus stems below a pagoda, the reverse with a stag and doe grazing Houston, Texas, Jade: Ch’ing Dynasty
with one feeding on lingzhi, the stone of attractive darker and lighter spinach- Treasures from the National Museum of
green tones, wood stands and fitted box. History, Taiwan, 3 April - 7 September 1998
Each 20.6cm (8 1/8in) diam. (5). National Geographic Society Museum
Explorer Hall, Washington D.C., 8 October
HK$600,000 - 800,000 1998 - 3 January 1999
US$77,000 - 100,000
出版：
清乾隆/嘉慶 碧玉雙面雕鹿鶴同春插屏一對 《清代玉雕之美》，國立歷史博物館，
台北，1997年，頁66-69，編號20

展覽：
美國加州寶爾博物館，1997年9月7日至1998
年3月1日
德州休士頓自然科學博物館，1998年4月3日
至9月7日
華盛頓國際地理協會探險家博物館，
1998年10月8日至1999年1月3日

The exceptional table screens would have
formed part of the paraphernalia on a
scholar’s desk, with the vast multi-layered
mountainous landscape alluding to the
idealised scholar’s retreat. The auspicious
subject matter conveys wishes of longevity,
represented by the crane, deer and lingzhi,
as well as the sage, who may be identified
as Shoulao, the God of Longevity. Compare
a related pair of white jade circular screens,
Qing dynasty, from the Qing Court collection,
carved on the front of each screen with a
sage, possibly representing Shoulao, and
attendants in a mountainous landscape, the
reverse with a crane and deer, illustrated in
The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum: Jadeware (II), Shanghai,
2008, pl.61. The stag and doe symbolise the
wish for marital bliss, and when combined
with the lingzhi, could be interpreted to wish
continuity and longevity. The musical stone
carried by the attendants relates to the sets
of jade chimes used in the Grand Sacrifices
of state rituals performed at the Altar of
Heaven and the Altar of Land and Grain,
underpinning the legitimacy of the dynasty
and establishing the emperor as the single
intermediary between Heaven and Earth.
The auspicious wishes of longevity and
continuity represented in the present lot can
be therefore construed not only as a personal
wish to be bestowed on the owner of the
screens but also on the dynasty.

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