I nscribed with a poem composed by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-95), this table screen is significant not only for its imperial association, but also for the name engraved in the complimentary close – He Shen (1750-99).

The inscription can be translated as:

A hundred streams flying from beyond the clouds

Traveling thunderously for thousands of miles and falling into the river in front

He who watches this lofty marvel is

Perhaps the celestial Beigu of Dayuan

Imperial Poem respectfully written by the Emperor's subject He Shen

Composed by the Emperor in 1764, the poem is included in Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quanji [Anthology of Imperial Qianlong poems and texts], Yuzhi shi san ji [Imperial poetry, vol. 3], juan 40, under the heading of Ti Hetian yu gaoshi linquan [Composed for the Khotan jade ‘Scholars Listening to a Flowing Spring’] (fig. 1). The Beigu of Dayuan referred in the verse is an immortal from the western part of China, potentially alluding to the source of the jade material celebrated by the Emperor.

He Shen, arguably the favorite minister of the Emperor, was one of the most powerful political figures in the Qianlong reign, who held many high-ranking posts at court. During his career, he amassed tremendous property and treasures including an abundance of gold, silver, jades and pearls. The current jade screen was most likely a commission by this man of supreme wealth, who might have presented it to the Emperor as a tribute to demonstrate his loyalty.

The Qianlong Emperor was a well-known jade lover. Jade craftsmanship during his reign is widely regarded as its peak of development. According to official records, he regularly inspected the jade carving process to make sure products were up to standards. With the Qing court’s expansion of territory in western China in the mid-18th century, there was an increased supply of jade material from Xinjiang province, particularly from the renowned jade-rich region of Khotan (Hetian). Highly skilled jade artisans worked at workshops both inside and outside of the palace, for example, in cities such as Suzhou and Yangzhou, creating a wide range of jade items of unprecedented quantity.

From the hundreds of poems and essays he had written about jade, it is possible to get a sense of the Emperor’s taste. Khotan jade, for example, was highly prized by the Emperor who on several occasions expressed his admiration for this treasured stone. In terms of style, he was particularly fond of jade designs inspired by antiquities and paintings. The latter, typically with depictions of figures and landscapes, aim to create a visual effect similar to that of paintings, but in a three-dimensional form by carving the stone in relief on varying levels. Like on paintings, verses were sometimes inscribed on jades to accompany pictorial representations.

A jade mountain, carved with two scholars standing by a waterfall, bears the same poem. It is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. 故-玉-003848), and 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. no. 41 (fig. 2). The Emperor’s poems are often found inscribed on more than one work.

Compare two smaller white jade table screens, each depicting a scholar appreciating a landscape, carved in low relief and inscribed with an imperial poem followed by the phrase chen Wang Jie jingshu (respectfully written by the Emperor's subject Wang Jie), one in the Summer Palace, Beijing, published in Compendium of the Cultural Relics in the Collection of the Summer Palace, Beijing, 2018, p. 50-1; the other sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2010, lot 1907. See also a smaller white jade screen from the De An Tang Collection, with a woodcutter and fisherman in a landscape, inscribed with two imperial poems and the name of the official Jueluo Guifang, included in the exhibition, A Romance of Jade: From the De An Tang Collection, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004, cat. no. 62.

本品玉雕臨泉圖插屏，構圖巧妙，雕工精熟，刻乾隆御製詩一首，題識「臣和珅敬書」，甚為少見，獨具價值。

詩文：

雲外飛來百道泉

湱然千丈落前川

厜㕒觀者伊誰氏

疑是大宛北谷仙

此詩由乾隆帝作於1764年，並收錄於《清高宗御製詩文全集．御製詩三集》，卷40，名《題和闐玉高士臨泉》（圖一）。詩中提及大宛北谷仙，或為呼應美玉產地。

和珅，乾隆年間重臣，權傾朝野，曾任多個要職，家財萬貫，收藏金銀玉石極豐。本玉插屏相信乃由和珅下令雕製，或上奉乾隆帝以表忠誠。

乾隆愛玉，眾所週知，其在位期間，玉雕工藝登峰造極。據宮廷檔案記載，乾隆帝不時監察玉雕過程，確保成品水準上乘。十八世紀中期，清軍西征以擴大版圖，大開新疆玉路，此後和闐玉料源源不斷。時宮庭內外，能工巧匠輩出，製玉工藝卓絕，品質精良，如蘇州、揚州等地均以玉作聞名。

乾隆詩詞及文章中多見以玉為題者，從中便可一窺其品味喜好。高宗珍愛和闐美玉，於詩文中數度提及對其之喜愛，尤其是對仿古及畫意玉器更是情有獨鍾。畫意玉器多以山水人物為題，意在捕捉傳統書畫之神韻，並利用深淺浮雕營造出立體感，此外還仿效書畫傳統，於留白處書刻題識。

參考一玉山例，刻劃兩高士立於瀑布旁，題詩與本品相同，現藏於台北國立故宮博物院（館藏編號故-玉-003848），曾展於《宮廷之雅：清代仿古及畫意玉器特展圖錄》，國立故宮博物院，台北，1997年，編號41（圖二）。同首御製詩題於不同玉作之上時常可見。

另可參考兩較小玉插屏例，作山水高士圖，刻御製詩，並題「臣王杰敬書」，其一現藏於北京頤和園，載於《頤和園藏文物大系．玉器卷I》，北京，2018年，頁50-1；其二售於香港蘇富比2010年4月8日，編號1907。再比一白玉例，德安堂收藏，尺寸較小，雕漁樵圖，刻御製詩兩首，並題「臣覺羅桂芳敬書」，曾展於《玉緣：德安堂藏玉》，故宮博物院，北京，2004年，編號62。