A PALE CELADON JADE 'IMMORTALS AND LANDSCAPE' TABLE SCREEN AND ORIGINAL GILT-BRONZE STAND QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

the rectangular slab of pale celadon colour mottled with icy inclusions, one side worked with two immortals in loose flowing robes and an attendant in a rocky landscape set with a pavilion and detailed with running river streams, one immortal rendered holding a lingzhi stem, the other tending a deer, the attendant depicted tugging a branch of a tall peach tree in the background, all below lingzhi-shaped clouds bordering the upper edge, the reverse decorated in low relief with an overhanging prunus tree issuing from rugged cliffs, the gilt-bronze stand exquisitely cast and reticulated with stylised scrollwork as well as floral and foliate motifs

Sotheby’s London, 12th March 1982, lot 29.

The jade screen is in good overall condition, with just minor surface wear and bruises at the corners, smoothed over time. There are areas of rubbing to the gilding on the screen, especially the underside of the feet.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Screens such as the present piece were seldom created before the Qianlong period due to the rarity of large flawless pieces of jade. Such screens were fashioned from carefully chosen highly-translucent stones, which would enhance the differing depths of the carved pictorial scene. The particular challenge presented to the carvers of jade table screens was to compose two different designs on each side that would not interfere with but rather enhance the other when light shone through. Thus the viewer could easily be transported into the tranquil and inviting landscapes.

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 sense of harmony and ethereality captured through the figures in the idyllic landscape is a good example of the type of carving the Qianlong Emperor envisioned.

A table screen carved with a similar landscape, in the De An Tang collection, was included in the exhibition Romance with Jade, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004, cat. no. 67; a pair was sold in these rooms, 25th November 1981, lot 417; another pair, from the collection of R. Matthews, was sold in our London rooms, 7th November 1961, lot 354; and a third example was sold in our London rooms, 7th December 1993, lot 113. See also three jade screens carved with a similar motif, also inscribed with imperial poems, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition The Refined Taste of the Emperor. Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch’ing Court, Taipei, 1997, cat. nos. 62, 65 and 67.