carved to the front side with a scholar standing on a rocky outcrop holding a brush, beside a stream, with two pine trees in a mountainous landscape, inscribed shou bi nan shan (May your age be as the South Mountains), the reverse with rocky crags, the stone of a deep celadon green and pale beige tone with white inclusions and russet flaws

Sotheby's London, 11th March 1969, lot 34.

The boulder is in good condition. There are some small chips and nicks to extremities, the largest is to the top of a pine and measuring 0.8 cm wide. The actual colour of the stone is slightly darker than the catalogue illustration.
"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."

The present piece is notable for the large boulder from which the craftsman has skilfully rendered a mountainous scene that follows its natural contours and veining. Jade boulders carved with a serene scene of a figure dwelling in a pavilion within a landscape was favoured by scholars for the various values embodied within it. Tina Yee-wan Pang and Jane Sze, in Virtuous Treasures. Chinese Jades for the Scholar’s Table, Hong Kong, 2008, pp 13-14, discuss that objects of this type embodied the ideal natural environment that every true scholar aspired to, and thus brought into their urban studios in miniaturised forms.  A boulder of comparable size and design is illustrated in Stanley Nott, Voices from the Flowery Kingdom, New York, 1947, pl. LXIX. Compare also a smaller boulder attributed to the 18^th century and carved in high-relief depicting a scene of a figure in a mountainous landscape, from the Thannhauser Collection and in the DDR Museum, Berlin, included in the exhibition Schätze Chinas in Museen der DDR. Kunsthandwerk und Kunst aus vier Jahrtausenden, Museum für Völkerkunde, Dresden, 1989, cat. no. 138; and another illustrated in Roger Keverne, Jade, London, 1991, pp.352.