AN EXCEPTIONAL AND RARE RETICULATED CELADON AND RUSSET JADE 'FIGURES' PLAQUE SONG – YUAN DYNASTY

finely rendered in openwork depicting a scholar and three attendants in a setting detailed with elaborate rockery and lush vegetation, the scholar rendered dressed in loose robes and stroking his beard, flanked by two boys, one clambering on rockwork behind chrysanthemum blooms, a further boy portrayed holding a vase beside a tall gnarled tree, the smoothly polished celadon stone with russet patches skilfully utilised to depict the vegetation

Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 3186.

There is a 0.1 cm chip to the underside of the base. Other general surface wear and abrasion to the fragile extremities, and a possible area of polishing to the top sides. Please note the colour of the stone is slightly less white in reality than under the flash photography of the catalogue photo.
"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."

The superb plaque is remarkable for its skilful carving in achieving several layers of depth on a thin and flat jade pebble. The carver has utilised as much of the precious stone as possible to fashion a scene of figures in a landscape, the foliage of which is cleverly picked out by the russet skin of the stone. In its three-dimensionality, the setting helps illustrate the narrative in a naturalistic manner.

Only a small number of plaques of this type attributed to the Song dynasty is known; see a green jade example, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and included in the Museum’s exhibition Art in Quest of Heaven and Truth. Chinese Jades Through the Ages, 2011, cat. no. 6-2-7; two white jade plaques, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (II), Hong Kong, 1995, pls 91-92; a pale yellow version sold in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 3017; and a fifth example, from the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, sold in our New York rooms, 15th March 2016, lot 108.