Page 102 - Robert Youngman Collection Of Chinese Jade March 2019 Sotheby's

256
A PALE CELADON AND RUSSET JADE ‘MOUNTAIN’ BRUSHREST
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
carved in the form of a jagged mountainscape of rugged overlapping peaks, the craggy surfaces and steep cliffs serving as a lofty backdrop to a
thatched pavilion and a tall wutong tree, a scholar in flowing robes walking across a bridge over a small stream nearly, the reverse with a lone pine
tree amidst rockwork, the jade an even light celadon color with russet inclusions, fitted wood stand (2)
清十八世紀 青白玉雕山亭高士圖筆擱

Length 5¾ in., 14.6 cm
$ 20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Purchased in Hong Kong, 1964. 購於香港，1964年
EXHIBITED 展覽
Spirit and Nature: Visions of Independence, Middlebury 《Spirit and Nature: Visions of Independence》，
College, 1990, cat. no. 28. 明德大學，1990年，編號28
出版
LITERATURE
Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection of 羅伯特•楊門，《楊門藏玉：中國玉器·新石器時代至清代》，
芝加哥，2008年，圖版200
Chinese Jades from Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008,
pl. 200.

Functioning as a brushrest, paperweight, and work of art in its own right, this refined carving met the utilitarian needs and aesthetic taste
of Ming and Qing dynasty scholar-officials. Jade builders carved as mountains held a range of meanings for their original audiences. They
represented miniature idealized landscapes which the owner could contemplate and mentally retreat into whilst in the studio. They also
symbolized refuge from the troubles of court life, as well as a scholar’s self-reliance and integrity. Thus, these tabletop landscapes were
carved in a variety of sizes, with the quality of the stone and the skill of the caver insuring both variety and unique characteristics in each of
these treasured scholar’s objects.
Compare a slightly larger jade ‘mountain’ formerly in the Avery Brundage Collection and now in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco,
obj. no. B60J285, featuring scholars walking amidst a rocky landscape. An inscribed imperial Qianlong period example sold at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 30th May 2012, lot 4009. See also a ‘mountain’ brushrest very similiar in form to the present example, sold in our Hong Kong
rooms, 1st June 2017, lot 5, carved with a dragon and makara emerging from the mountainous peaks.

100 SOTHEBY’S