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A RARE IMPERIAL INSCRIBED LAPIS LAZULI TABLE SCREEN
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A RARE IMPERIAL INSCRIBED LAPIS LAZULI TABLE SCREEN
Estimate
(Set Currency)
    HK$1,000,000 - HK$1,500,000
  • ($129,423 - $194,135)

Sale Information

Sale 2811
The Imperial Sale Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
31 May 2010
Hong Kong
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Lot Description

A RARE IMPERIAL INSCRIBED LAPIS LAZULI TABLE SCREEN
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

The rectangular plaque carved in high relief on one side with a mountainous landscape dominated by a large gnarled pine tree, a waterfall cascades down the mountain in the distance, further detailed with a crane in flight amidst scrolling clouds looking down at another crane which stands beside lingzhi sprays, the reverse with inscription yuzhi he shi, 'by Imperial command, a poem on cranes', the stone of a variegated blue tone with white and brown mottling
8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm.) high, wood stand


清乾隆 青金石「御製鶴詩」硯屏

青金石質,呈紫藍色。屏為長方形,片狀。一面雕懸崖峭壁,祥雲縈繞,崖壁縫間瀑布飛瀉而下,蒼松挺拔,一羽仙鶴飛舞半空,另一獨立回首與之遙遙相望,石縫長出靈芝仙草,意境祥和。背面描金刻詩文「御題鶴詩。放翅聽飛去,愛山仍復還。那期稻梁報,常伴渚州間。唳月聲非怨,梳風意自閒。使無清介格,亦豈異乎鷴。」字體俊秀。

宋代文人趙希鵠在《洞天清祿集》說:「古無硯屏…自東坡、山谷始作硯屏。」山谷即黃庭堅。自宋朝以來硯屏一直深受文人雅仕得鍾愛,既可當做文房用品,又可以陳設几案之上,因此硯屏的材質和裝飾越來越講究,製作越來越精美。

Lot Condition Report
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Pre-Lot Text

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

Lot Notes

The stone, lapis lazuli, was considered a precious material throughout the Qing period. It was more often carved into accessories such as court necklaces, and more rarely the larger boulders were carved as scholar's objects such as mountain boulders and screens as decorative objects for the imperial palaces. The short poem composed by Emperor Qianlong describes the wistful freedom of a crane in flight and may be translated as:

With lightly raised wings it flies,
circling over its favourite mountain.
With an intention in returning to feed,
and stalk lightly behind the scholar along the
shore.
The bird cries but not in pain,
with wind blowing through its feathers
If one can be transformed,
out of the ordinary, one would become a
Xian*


*Xian is the bird, Lophura Swinhoii or Swinhoe's pheasant, admired for its blue plumage.

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