A MASSIVE AND FINELY CARVED 'EIGHT HORSES' SPINACH-GREEN JADE BRUSHPOT QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

of particularly large cylindrical form, finely carved in varying depths of relief with eight horses accompanied by their attendants in a vivid rocky landscape, depicting King Mu and an attendant walking with a horse from a pavilion towards a flowing stream, while another horse is bathed in the stream below a splashing waterfall, one being groomed, one being cajoled by an attendant, while another gallops down from a rocky outcrop, further along others contentedly resting and grazing, and another playfully gamboling on its back, all within a wide wooded valley filled with lush vegetation including pine, paulownia, willow and banana, with clouds swirls drifting above, the stone of a deep spinach-green mottled with darker green inclusions

Collection of Major J.E. de Sales La Terrière and inherited from his grandfather who removed it from the Yuanmingyuan, Beijing,1860.
Sotheby's London, 3^rd November 1953, lot 162.

There are natural fissures and rivering to the stone which has been covered up in areas with paint. There is a small loss to the top of the pine tree, illustrated on p. 117, and another small loss to a leaf lower below, and some minor nibbling to the edge of a cliff, illustrated on p. 115. Otherwise the piece is in very good condition overall.
"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."

This superbly carved jade brushpot is a fine example of the very high standard of carving achieved by artists during the Qianlong period. The scene depicts the legendary eight horses of King Mu (1023 B.C. - 957 B.C.) of the Zhou dynasty. It is said that King Mu travelled around his kingdom in a chariot drawn by eight horses in search of the heavenly paradise. His horses took him to the Kunlun Mountains where King Mu discovered the Jade Palace of the mythical Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) and met the Queen Mother of the West (Xi Wang Mu) in her Western Garden where the peach of immortality grew. The eight horses were all given a distinctive name and were eventually let out to graze after many years of faithful service to the king. As seen on this brushpot, the horses are freely grazing in a mountaneous landscape with one shown contendedly rolling on its back as if liberated from its harness. Horses in China are traditionally symbols of speed and perseverance. For the Manchus who were nomadic people and had won all their victories on horseback, horses represented power and peace. This brushpot is therefore doubly precious as it is made of a highly prized material and depicts a most favoured subject matter.

For examples of carvings of related spinach jade brushpots see three illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pls. 168-170; one of very similar deep carving style, from the collections of the Duca da Padoua, Piedmonte and Sir Isaac and Lady Wolfson and illustrated in Roger Keverne, Jade, New York, 1991, p. 184, fig. 139, sold in our London rooms, 10^th October 1960, lot 208, and again, 8^th June 1982, lot 310; and another brushpot sold in these rooms, 31^st October 2004, lot 229.

See also a spinach jade brushpot in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 406-9, pl. 29:18, where the author mentions that jade workshops often used paintings and prints as their basis of design and the carver treated the surface of the jade almost like a sheet of paper.