Page 90 - Christie's Fine Chiense Works of Art November 2018 London

(other view)

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A LARGE WHITE JADE BOULDER
The mountain boulder is fnely carved to one side with a mountainous landscape flled with tall pine trees,
depicting a scholar standing on a terrace before two further scholars conversing before a pavilion. The
reverse is carved with some further trees and has a long poetic inscription. The stone is of a milky-white
tone with rich russet inclusions to the outer edges.
9æ in. (24.8 cm.) wide
£40,000-60,000 $52,000-79,000
€45,000-67,000
The poem inscribed on the current boulder describes farmers conversing, seeing of a visitor at a bridge,
and muses that scholars can have heated discussions and debates, which can descend into a dispute if
weaponry become involved.
Carved jade boulders illustrating idyllic landscape scenes have long been popular collectible objects for
the Chinese literati, serving not just decorative but also meditative purposes. As discussed by Robert
Kleiner, ‘these represented miniature idealised landscapes into which the scholar himself could retreat
without having to leave his study and they complement the miniature gardens and trees cultivated by
most scholars’; see Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, p.
160.

白玉山水人物圖山子