A carved tianhuang 'boulder' seal Qing Dynasty, 18th / 19th Century

carved in the form of a small mountain with trees and cliffs topped by clouds, depicting nine elderly scholars beneath pine trees, inscribed Xiangshan jiu lao tu ('The Nine Elderly Scholars in the Fragrant Hills') with a signature and sealmark, the irregular face carved with the characters yuan gai qiu song you dong jin, shui chuan wei shi luan shan shen (clouds covering the autumn pine trees, water running through the jagged cliffs), the opaque stone varying in tone from yellow-orange to amber-brown with russet inclusions