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PROPERTY OF A NEW JERSEY PRIVATE COLLECTOR

A WELL-CARVED WHITE JADE CIRCULAR
TABLE SCREEN
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

one side with ne and undercut detail illustrating a pavilion 1982 10 29 175
perched on a balustraded terrace surrounded by trees, rocks, Spink Son 39
and owers, overlooking a rushing river weaving between Hartman Rare Art Inc
near and distant mountains, the ribbon-like clouds above
completing the composition, the reverse with a later-added 1985 6 5
inscription in clerical script, the stone with opaque white
passages, wood stand (2)
Diameter 7 in., 17.6 cm

PROVENANCE

Sotheby’s London, 29th October 1982, lot 175.
Spink & Son, London.
Hartman, Rare Art, Inc., New York.
Sotheby’s New York, 5th June 1985, lot 39.

Screens such as the present example largely developed
in the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty when pieces of
high-quality jade of desirable color and translucency became
more accessible. At the time, table screens were important
decorative objects for the scholar’s studio. The screens were
displayed on stands, allowing natural light to illuminate the
carved features and transport the viewer into the tranquil
landscape depicted.

The Qianlong Emperor advocated that jade mountains and
carved panels should carry the spirit of paintings by famous
past masters. It is recorded that a number of classical
paintings from the emperor’s own collection were ordered
to be reproduced in jade, such as the celebrated painting
Travellers in the Mountains, by the eminent Five Dynasties
painter Guan Tong (907-960). The complexity of the carving
and the harmony of the composition in the present screen
exemplify the mastery and aesthetic demanded of lapidary
artisans in the Qianlong era.

A smaller but similarly carved white jade circular table screen
of the same period depicting pavilions and temples set against
the mountainous landscape of Hangzhou’s West Lake sold at
Christie’s New York, 28th November 2006, lot 1369. Another
slightly larger white jade table screen sold at Sotheby’s Hong
Kong, 8th October 2013, lot 3042. A third, with two gures
by a mountain pavilion, is in the collection of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art (acc. no. 02.18.652).

$ 30,000-50,000

54 SOTHEBY’S