A very rare Imperial pale green jade inscribed 'Gushan fanghe tu' boulder


QianlongDeftly carved as a three-peak mountain, carved on one side with the sage Lin Bu and his male attendant standing on a rocky ledge releasing a crane from its cage and watching it in flight, beside a gushing stream, a large pine tree and overhanging wutong and bamboo branches, the rock-face finely incised with the Imperial poem titled Xiang Shengmo Gushan fanghe tu jiyong qiyun, the reverse carved with rocky outcrops strewn with lingzhi fungus, grass, and overhanging bamboo and willow branches, the stone of pale green tone with slight striations and very minor russet spots, wood stand. 16.7cm (6 5/8in) long (2).
|清乾隆 御製青玉雕「孤山放鶴圖」山子Provenance: An English private collection, according to a label 'Brought from Pekin 1865', and thence by descent來源：英國私人收藏，木座標籤顯示「1865年取自北京」，並由後人保存至今The present jade boulder belongs to a particular category of Imperial jade 'mountain' carvings providing a three-dimensional interpretation to a two-dimensional famous painting esteemed by the Qianlong emperor. For related jade boulders, Qianlong, with subject matters carved after paintings, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see Chang Li-tuan, The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, nos.36-38, 40-42, and no.62 (a jade plaque showing Lin Bu); and see also two related jade boulder examples from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 8 Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2010, nos.100 and 118.The present jade mountain, whose three craggy peaks are a symbolic reference to the Chinese character for mountain shan and more specifically represents Mount Gu, is Imperially inscribed with the poem Xiang Shengmo fushan fanghe tu jiyong qiyun, referring to the painter Xiang Shengmo's (1597-1658) famous painting titled Gushan fang he tu, previously in the Qing Court Collection, and now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Illustrated Catalog of Painting and Calligraphy in the National Palace Museum, vol.9, Taipei, 1997, pp.75-76. This painting was highly regarded by the Qianlong emperor who composed a poem to celebrate it as well as honouring the painting with no less than ten Imperial seal impressions. It is therefore not surprising that the emperor wished to mark this important painting by also transforming it into a three-dimensional jade mountain, embellished with his Imperial poem:項聖謨孤山放鶴圖即用其韻南宋樓臺劫火灰，梅花自放鶴還來。撫圖似晤林和靖，騁望湖天笑眼開。Composed on Xiang Shengmo's Painting of Releasing a Crane on Mt GuTowers and terraces of the Southern Song plundered and burnt; yet the plum blossom has returned with the crane.Caressing this image with the eyes is like seeing Lin Bu; with free reign to gaze across the lake and sky with smiling eyes. The painter Xiang Shengmo was a Ming dynasty loyalist, who after the Manchu conquest became a recluse. Xiang's painting of the earlier recluse, Lin Bu of the Song dynasty, was a hidden reference to himself and his own refusal to accept the Manchu led Qing dynasty. Lin Bu, who lived by Mount Gu ('Solitary') in West Lake in Hangzhou, planted plum trees, raised cranes, and studied and wrote - becoming the archetype of the lofty scholar. It is said that when friends came he avoided them by rowing on the lake until his attendants released cranes, telling him to return home. The present jade mountain shows Mount Gu, the release of the crane by the attendant and the scholar Lin Bu. The Qianlong emperor, a Manchu, recognised Xiang's sentiment of loyalty to the fallen Ming dynasty through his allegory to the Song dynasty recluse. In his poem, the emperor made reference to the fallen Ming dynasty by allegorising it with the 'burnt towers' and ashes of the Song realm. The Qianlong emperor continues to say that the plum blossoms have returned with the crane, meaning that talented scholars have returned to government service to make the Qing dynasty strong and that the nation is blooming again. In effect, by writing poems on paintings by Ming loyalists and having jade boulders replicate them, the Qianlong emperor was making a strong statement to any who still might have nostalgic sentiments of Ming loyalism. Rather than hide or destroy Xiang Shengmo's masterful painting, the emperor was showing how confident he was in being able to tackle Ming loyalism in the open and cleverly disarmed any artistic weapon that may have been used against him by making it his own with numerous Imperial seals that showed his appreciation of the painting. The present lot is thus a remarkable example of the Qianlong emperor's political gifts. 青玉質，白中閃青，質地溫潤。深峻刀法出嶙峋山巖，有層巒疊嶂之勢，巖上淺浮雕團葉垂枝，山巖正面右下出溪流，紋如髪縷，左側巖下雕梧桐兩株，高矮相依，樹側高浮雕及圓雕技法並用作童子侍桌，高士柱杖在側，仰望高處山巖上浮雕之回首仙鶴，似有不捨。鶴下巖壁上陰刻《御題放鶴圖》詩一首：南宋樓臺劫火灰，梅花自放鶴還來。撫圖似晤林和靖，騁望湖天笑眼開。此件玉石山子乃乾隆朝特有的玉雕題材，乾隆帝稱之為「玉圖」，台北故宮博物院將此類歸為「畫意玉器」。這一題材起自民間作坊，而御製「畫意玉器」或取材內廷收藏歷代名畫，或由宮廷畫師起草圖，形制多為山子或插屏。台北故宮藏有數件「畫意山子」可作參考，見張麗端著，《宮廷之雅一清代仿古及畫意玉器特展圖錄》，台北，1997年，編號36至38，40至42及62。其中編號62玉放鶴插屏所刻題材亦是林逋放鶴的典故，畫面取自清代宮廷畫家金廷標之《放鶴圖軸》，現藏台北故宮。山巖上鐫詩全名《項聖謨孤山放鶴圖即用其韻》，收錄於《御製詩三集》，乾隆四十四年（1779年）武英殿刻本，卷一二零，頁21及22。項聖謨《孤山放鶴圖》原貯寧壽宮，現藏台北故宮，著錄於《秘殿珠林石渠寶笈續編》，乾隆五十八年（1793年）本，卷五，第五冊，台北，1971年，頁2873及《故宮書畫圖錄》，第九冊，台北，1997年，頁75-76。乾隆帝在畫上行書題此詩，署年己丑，即三十四年，公元1769年。比對《孤山放鶴圖》畫面可知本件山子或取正中西湖孤山島之景而成，乾隆帝對此畫珍愛非常可見一斑。林逋（967年或968年─1028年），字君復，謚和靖，隱居西湖孤山，養鶴植梅，自稱「梅妻鶴子」。沈括《夢溪筆談·人事二》載：「林逋隱居杭州孤山，常畜兩鶴，縱之則飛入雲霄，盤鏇久之，復入籠中。逋常泛小艇游西湖諸寺，有客至逋所居，則一童子出，應門延客坐，為開籠縱鶴。良久，逋必棹小船而歸，蓋常以鶴飛為驗也。」項聖謨（1597年－1658年），字孔彰，號易庵，《清史稿》稱其「初學文徵明，後益進於古，董其昌稱其與宋人血戰，又得元人氣韻。」此件山子背後之政治含義更值得玩味。滿人入關建立清朝後，一些明朝遺民仍對前朝抱有念想，項聖謨借北宋詩人林逋獨隱孤山、終身不娶之題材隱喻自己對前朝的哀思，乾隆帝深知其意，不但不隱藏此種念想，反題詩御贊，並以玉雕山子取其意而復刻，可見清朝皇帝對皇權鞏固之決心及用意。