A PALE GREEN JADE RECTANGULAR TABLE SCREEN

18th century

18th century
Finely carved on one side in low relief with a riverscape depicting two peasants carrying tree branches as they walk over a bridge, one bank with a small hut nestled amidst jagged rocks, behind a boy riding a water buffalo, the reverse plain, the stone of pale green tone with some icy and russet inclusions, wood stand. 21.3cm (8 2/8in) high excluding the stand. (2).

十八世紀 青白玉雕樵耕圖硯屏

Table screens such as the present lot would have adorned the scholar's desk, providing inspiration and perhaps some momentary relief from the pressures of work. Typically inspired by paintings, the subject matter often reflects the Daoist preoccupation with mountain retreats and retirement from worldly concerns.

Compare with the pale green jade screens, Qianlong, carved with scenes of figures in remote landscapes, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, nos.71 and 72.