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A fine pale green jade imperially inscribed table screen Qianlong, dated by inscription to 1775
Sold for HK$1,140,000 inc. premium
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Find your local specialistA fine pale green jade imperially inscribed table screen
The rectangular panel decorated to one side with a scene of a scholar and his attendant standing on a platform on a rocky precipice, looking out over the waters below that recede into the distance, a steep cliff rising beside them, on which is inscribed a poem by Yuan dynasty scholar Zhao Yan describing the scene they are looking at, dated Qianlong yiwei (1775), follwed by two seals, one a symbol representing the trigram qian, the other the character long, the reverse inscribed with the first part of the poem by Tang dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu, followed by the words Qianlong yuti (imperially inscribed by Qianlong) and two seals reading Guxi and Qianlong, enclosed by a key-fret border, accompanied by a silverwire-inlaid reticulated wood stand.
23cm (9in) overall height. (2).
Footnotes
Provenance:
William Clayton Ltd., London, 29 April 1963
An English family collection of fine jade carvings
The poem on the front can be found on an album leaf signed Zhao Yan in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. Besides knowing that Zhao Yan was active during the Yuan period, not much is known about him. The twenty-eight character poem is reproduced on the present lot, with a change to first character in the third line. The poem as it appears on the present lot reads:
一片晴帆欲拂天
林雲江月淨娟娟
輕川人去丹青在
暖逼欹湖柳浪煙
The sails of boats appear to brush the calm skies;
the forest, clouds, river and moon are shrouded in beauty,
the river's waters and people may pass, but the scene will remain painted in colours,
the misty willows close in on the lake.
The poem on the reverse is by Tang dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu titled Chunjiang huayue ye, Spring River on a Full Moon Night. Not much is known of Zhang except that he lived in the late seventh and early eight centuries. Today, he is best known for this poem which is one of only two of his works to survive to the present.
Only the first half of the poem is reproduced on the present lot, with one stanza omitted to create an even number of lines. The poem as it appears on the present lot is reproduced below:
春江潮水連海平 海上明月共潮生
灩灩隨波千萬里 何處春江無月明
江流宛轉繞芳甸 月照花林皆似霰
空裡流霜不覺飛 汀上白沙看不見
江天一色無纖塵 皎皎空中孤月輪
江畔何人初見月 江月何年初照人
人生代代無窮已 不知江月待何人
但見長江送流水 白雲一片去悠悠
The river rises level with the sea,
the reflection of the moon rises with the tide.
Following the rolling waves for ten thousand li,
where will there be water with no reflection of the moon?
The swirling waters surround the fragrant land,
where the foliage glistens in the moonlight.
You cannot feel the frost in the air,
nor can you see the white sand on the beach.
The water and sky blend unblemished into one.
A lonely moon shines brilliantly like a wheel.
Who on the riverbank first saw the moon rise?
When did the moon first shine on man?
Generations of people have come and gone,
who is the moon waiting for?
But the river waters continue to flow,
and the white clouds drift continuously by.
清乾隆乙未(1775) 青白玉御題春江花夜月插屏
來源：
1963年 4月29日 購自倫敦 William Clayton 有限公司
英國私人玉器收藏
Saleroom notices
Estimate should read: HK$600,000-800,000