the substantial boulder of mountain form, worked in high relief to one face with a monk in a grotto, seated on a rocky ledge in front of a pile of books and staring at the walls in meditation, the grotto framed by cragged rockwork and wild shrubs, finely incised and gilt on the rock face with an imperial poem bearing the cyclical date of Qianlong renchen (in accordance with 1772), the stone of a bright purple-blue colour suffused with gold flecks and milky-white inclusions, the gilt-bronze stand cast in the form of a rock base with a lush of wild plants

Acquired in China by Edmond D. Coblentz (1882-1959), a leading American photo journalist for Hearst newspapers.

The stone is in good condition, with just minor surface wear. The gilt inscription is slightly faded in places. Please note the colour of the stone is slightly less of a purple tinge than in the catalogue photo. Bruising and minor rubbing to the gilding of the stand.
"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."

It is rare to find a lapis lazuli boulder of this high quality, inscribed with a Qianlong Imperial poem and complete with its original gilt-bronze stand.  For an example from the Avery Brundage Collection in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, see René-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé, Chinese Jades in The Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1977, p. 142, pl. LXIV. See also a lapis lazuli boulder carved with a luohan in a grotto, gifted by Heber Bishop in 1902 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and on permanent display, accession no. 02.18.917. Compare also an example sold at Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, 19th May 2010, lot 342.

For a closely related example in jade, depicting Bodhidharma in a mountain grotto, from the Qing court collection, preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taipei, 1997, pp. 140-141, no. 39.

Traditionally symbolic of purity and rarity, lapis lazuli appears to have been named qingjin shi (blue gold stone) during the Qing dynasty. The aura of mystery that surrounded this stone may have been due to the virtually inaccessible location of its principle mines in the remote Badakhshan region of northeast Afghanistan behind the Hindu Kush. According to Ming Wilson in ‘The Colour of Stones’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 62, 1997-98, p. 34, there are no known records identifying this stone before the Qing period although beads attributed to the Western Han period have been excavated. Its natural smoothness allowed it to be polished to a high degree which highlighted the brilliance of its blue colour and contrasting natural inclusions. Carvings fashioned from lapis lazuli are rare and were reserved for the imperial court.