A RARE LARGE PALE GREEN JADE 'LANDSCAPE' MOUNTAINQianlongThe boulder of irregular mountain form, deftly carved in various levels of relief depicting a bearded sage, standing on a rocky ledge looking towards a young attendant reaching carrying a tray with offerings, before a further attendant preparing the Elixir of Longevity on a cauldron, all set amidst a mountainous landscape dotted with pine trees, overhanging wutong, leafy shrubs and a distant pavilion, the stone of even pale green tone with faint russet veining. 18.1cm (7 1/8in) high.Footnotes:清乾隆 玉雕松蔭高士圖山子Provenance: Christie's London, 4 April 1979, lot 76James Basil Wilson and Julia Wilson, and thence by descentIn 1945, James Basil Wilson returned from The Second World War having served with the Gurkhas. He married Julia Burke in 1949 and they moved to London. James started working for Iron and Steel Exporters and later that year, he was offered the chance to set up an office Hong Kong, so they moved there and set up home. The business was successful, they loved Hong Kong and they lived the life of ex-patriates to the full. They swam, played golf, made friends and indulged their passion for fast cars, competing in amateur road races. Julia claimed to have won at the first Macau Grand Prix. As well as enjoying the pastimes of the culture they brought with them, they developed an enduring love for China, Chinese people, Chinese food and Chinese art. With a growing family, they returned to England in 1957. They brought with them the pieces they had bought in Hong Kong and James made many trips to Hong Kong and continued to build their collection throughout the following decades mainly from dealers in London.來源：倫敦佳士得，1979年4月4日，拍品編號76James Basil Wilson與Julia Wilson伉儷舊藏，並由後人保存迄今James Basil Wilson二戰期間曾於廓爾喀軍團服役，1945年返回英國。 1949年與Julia Burke結婚，婚後搬至倫敦，並開始為Iron and Steel Exporters效力，同年被委任籌備香港辦事處，遂移居香港。事業發展蒸蒸日上的同時，Wilson伉儷也充分享受著外派人士的理想生活；游泳、打高爾夫、結交朋友，沉迷賽車運動甚至參加業餘車手街道賽，Julia聲稱曾完賽首屆澳門格蘭披治大賽車。在保留西方生活方式的同時，Wilson伉儷也對中國及其民眾、美食和藝術產生了長久的熱情。 1957年，隨著家庭的不斷壯大，Wilson一家回到英國，並帶回了其在香港購置的藝術品。此後，James多次前往香港，並在接下來的幾十年中持續造訪倫敦的古董商，擴充藏品。Deftly carved, this boulder is notable for its fine carving, including even the smoke-clouds arising from the stove used to prepare tea or perhaps an elixir. The large jade stone was sourced from the areas of Khotan and Yarkand, which became an available source of jade after the Qing conquest of the north-western territories in the mid-18th century, allowing superior quality and larger jade stones to be sent to the jade workshops. The Qianlong emperor instructed that jade boulders and carved panels should carry the spirit of paintings by famous past masters. It is recorded that a number of classical paintings from the emperor's own collection were ordered to be reproduced in jade, such as the well-known painting entitled 'Travellers in the Mountain' by Guan Tong of the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD). The popularity of such jade boulders carved with mountainous scenes is attested by a number of related examples illustrated in Jasper Wares of Qing Dynasty Collected by the Palace Museum and Mansi, Beijing, 2014, nos.107-112. See also another example of a green jade boulder with a design of a sage enjoying the sight of a waterfall, Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, with a poem by the Qianlong emperor, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade, 8, Beijing, 2011, pp.128-129, no.96. The precision of the carver's workmanship, creating particularly crisp high-relief carving in some areas, and the imaginative interpretation from the outset of an asymmetric shape, is such that one can easy imagine this boulder adorning a desk in one of the Imperial palaces. It would foster contemplative introspection, with the beholder happily losing himself in the twists and turns of the rustic rocky pathway and the groves of old gnarled pine.The present lot is replete with auspicious meanings; not only the sage with two attendants preparing possibly an elixir of longevity, typical of Daoist hermits, but also the pine trees and cranes on the reverse. Cranes symbolise longevity and peace, and pine trees also symbolise longevity as well as endurance and steadfastness.See a related pale green and russet jade boulder with sages among a mountain path, Qing dynasty, illustrated in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, pp.156-157, no.47. Compare also the present carving to a group of jade mountains carved with landscape motifs from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 8, Beijing, 2011, nos.95-98.See also a related pale green jade 'Immortals' boulder, Qianlong, which was sold at Bonhams London, 5 November 2020, lot 158.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
