A very pale greenish-white and russet jade 'landscape and cranes' boulder


QianlongThe pebble of a trapezoidal and slender shape, the front deeply carved and pierced with a mountainous landscape, lingzhi and maple trees at the bottom, depicting a stepped pathway leading to a square terrace supporting an incense burner emitting smoke, all below the towering cliff with layered rockwork, the reverse carved in low relief with two cranes under a pine tree, the semi-translucent stone of whitish green tone with russet inclusions. 12.4cm (4 7/8in) high.
|清乾隆 青白玉仙山爐台山子The boulder is skillfully carved to maximise the use of the entire pebble stone. The carver has made superb use of the russet inclusions to create a lively composition.See a related but larger green jade boulder, Qing dynasty, also depicting an incense burner emitting smoke, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 8 Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, p.133, no.100.此山子採用單獨一塊料而雕成，玉質瑩潤，皮色誘人。見北京故宮博物院一件青玉雕人物山子，亦雕有祭台焚香之景，見《故宮博物院藏品大系：玉器編8 清》，北京，2011年，頁133，編號100。