Paire d'écrans en jade céladon pâle Dynastie Qing, XVIIIE siècle

de forme circulaire, les deux plaques finement sculptées d'un côté d'un paysage montagneux animé de personnages évoluant près d'un pavillon au bord d'un lac, le décor planté de pins et surmonté de nuages vaporeux, l'autre côté sculpté pour l'une d'un couple de grues, et pour l'autre d'un couple de daims, la pierre céladon pâle avec quelques inclusions blanches (2)

Both screens are in good overall condition. They are thick and measure about. 1.3cm at the thickest point. They are well carved and slightly undercut, the surfaces are well polished. The carvings on both screens on the reverse side featuring deer and cranes is more shallow. The stone is a pale celadon or greenish-white colour with scattered areas of calcified inclusions and translucent under light. The stone is of a less green and softer greenish-white colour than the catalogue illustration suggests. The natural flaw on the lower part of both screens suggests that the jade used for both screens may have come from the same piece of stone. The screen on the right hand side catalogue illustration. There is a ca. 0.5cm wide shallow chip to the rim on one side of the screen and a ca. 0.3cm wide shallow chip to the rim on the reverse. There are scattered fritts along the rims on both sides. There are tiny fritts to the raised sharp parts of the carved design. There is a natural flaw to the stone on the lower right hand side of the screen that has been incorporated into the carving. The screen on the left hand catalogue illustration. There is a ca. 0.5cm wide shallow chip to the rim on one side of the screen and a ca. 0.5cm shallow chip to the rim on the other side. There is a 2cm wide polished area to the rim on one side of the screen. There are scattered fritts along the rims on both sides. There are tiny fritts to the raised sharp parts of the carved design. There is a natural flaw to the stone on the lower right hand side of the screen that has been incorporated into the carving.
"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."

The jade material used for these two screens is of a very pale celadon colour, the surface polished to a soft glossy sheen. When light is passed through, the different depths of the designs on both sides of each screen, more subtle on one side and more pronounced on the reverse, are enhanced, the few natural flaws are cleverly incorporated into the design. As Yang Boda notes, the Qianlong emperor favoured jade landscape carvings and postulated that carved panels and boulders should carry the spirit of landcape paintings of past masters, see Yang Boda, 'Jade: Emperor Ch'ien Lung's Collection in the Palace Museum, Peking', in Arts of Asia, March-April 1992, pp. 81-94. Compare a related white jade circular screen from the Qing Court collection, carved on one side with an immortals 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 as the two cranes on the reverse of the second screen. Compare further a magnificent pair of white jade circular screens of similarly large size from the Hartman Collection, sold Christie's Hong Kong, 27th November 2007, lot 1511, and a white jade circular screen similarly carved with figures in a mountainous landscape setting, sold Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th November 1979, lot 242.