A pair of carved white jade 'immortals' table screens, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period | 清乾隆 白玉群仙賀壽圖插屏一對

One:

Collection of Dr. Gordon (1922-2008) and Dr. Rosemary (1922-1994) Fryers.

Christie's London, 15th May 2012, lot 10. 

The other:

Collection of Charles St. George Cleverly (1819-1897). 

Christie's Hong Kong, 26th November 2014, lot 3354.

其一插屏：

Gordon醫生 (1922-2008) 及 Rosemary醫生 (1922-1994) Fryers伉儷收藏

倫敦佳士得2012年5月15日，編號10

其二:

Charles St. George Cleverly (1819-1897) 私人收藏

香港佳士得2014年11月26日，編號3354

Expertly carved on both sides with varying levels of relief and finished to a lustrous gloss, the present pair of screens is a superb example of jade workmanship and characteristic of the type created in the Imperial Palace during the Qianlong Emperor's reign. The skill of the carver is evident in the fine rendering of the impeccably detailed figures and the vast ethereal landscape. 

Screens such as the present pair 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, allowing viewers to be easily transported into the tranquil and inviting landscapes.

Remarkably, the pair of screens were cut from the same stone and depict a similar, almost continuous, narrative of two immortals and one attendant traveling amidst the jagged mountainous landscape. As the viewer's eye follows along the winding path, one embarks on the same journey as the trio, eventually reaching the pavilion at the top of the mountain, signaling the final destination of the journey. On the reverse, the panels are beautifully carved with auspicious animals, one with a pair of deer and the other with a pair of cranes, both emblematic of longevity and set with mountainous terrain. 

Compare a similarly carved white jade table screen, previously in the Heber R. Bishop Collection, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 02.18.652); one from the De An Tang Collection was included in the exhibition A Romance of Jade from the De An Tang Collection, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2004, cat. no. 26; a pair, one from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, and the other from the Frederick Knight Collection, illustrated in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 123, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27th November 2007, lot 1511; a spinach-green jade example from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 19th March 2019, lot 821; and lastly, a white jade example, previously in the collection of Alwin Charles Ernst, sold in these room, 22nd March 2023, lot 523. 

此對白玉插屏雙面滿雕，層次分明，瑩澤秀潤，乃琢玉成器之佳作、乾隆御製之典型。人物刻畫一絲不苟，圖景塑造流麗輕靈，頗見藝匠巧工。

乾隆之前鮮有此類玉插屏，因無暇美玉珍罕難求。雕琢玉屏需精選籽料，質地透潤、成色瑩潔，畫面層次方可躍然眼前，注目觀賞方得心往神馳。

此對插屏出於同一籽料，屏上畫面連貫一致，乃兩位仙翁及一侍童遊於嶙峋山石間。凝神細看，目光隨山路蜿蜒而上，終至峰頂亭台，如與屏中三人同行。背面精雕祥禽瑞獸，一屏有鹿成對，一屏有鶴成雙，同現山巒，祝頌鹿鶴同春。

比一白玉插屏近例，Heber R. Bishop 舊藏，現存於紐約大都會博物館（編號02.18.652）；另一德安堂雅藏插屏曾展於《玉緣——德安堂藏玉》，故宮博物院，北京，2004年，編號26；再比哈特曼伉儷所藏白玉插屏一對，其一原屬哈佛大學福格博物館，劍橋，另一則為Frederick Knight寶蓄，錄 Robert Kleiner，《Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman》，香港，1996年，圖版123，售於香港佳士得2007年11月27日，編號1511；另比一歐雲伉儷收藏碧玉例，售於紐約佳士得2019年3月19日，編號821；及一白玉例，Alwin Charles Ernst 舊藏，售於紐約蘇富比2023年3月22日，編號523。