Asian Art I - 13th November 2013
Lot 91
A fine Chinese pale celadon jade boulder carving Qianlong 1736-95
Estimate £8,000 - £12,000 | Hammer £85000
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Description
A fine Chinese pale celadon jade boulder carving Qianlong 1736-95, illustrating the story of Shi Shi Cang Shu, each side carved in high relief with figures carrying books over bridges into a mountain chamber, the boulder with pine and maple trees, the stone with russet inclusions, 15.5cm high x 17.5cm wide.
Provenance: purchased c.1957 in Looe, Cornwall.
Cf. The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, National Palace Museum, pp.172-173, no.55 for a spinach-green jade bitong illustrating the same story.
According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Si Ma Qian, the first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi unified China in 221 BC. His chancellor Li Si suggested suppressing the intellectual discourse to unify political opinions by burning all books except those written by the Qin historians. The scene carved on this jade boulder, of the Shi Shi Cang Shu, illustrates the dissidents' attempt to hide forbidden books from the government by storing them in mountain caves.
清乾隆 青白玉雕石室藏書擺件
來源：1957年代從looe康沃爾購得