A very rare pale green jade 'Manjushri and Kalika' boulder


QianlongSuperbly carved as a vertical mountain rising from rocky ledges above a gushing stream, with a tall cypress tree rising to the outcrops strewn with pine, with a long twisting path rising to the top, exquisitely carved with an elephant tended by a luohan, who may be identified as Kalika, and an attendant carrying his bannered staff, the upper ledges with an Immortal, probably representing Manjushri, mounted on a Buddhist lion and holding a ruyi sceptre in his right hand, resting against its left shoulder, below a grotto skilfully carved in openwork with the sihouette of a spray of lingzhi fungus carved on the reverse, the other side similarly carved with pine, wutong and lingzhi fungus, scattered amidst rocky ledges and outcrops with stream and waterfall, the stone of pale green tone with minor russet inclusions. 20.1cm (8in) high.
|清乾隆 青白玉雕文殊及迦理迦尊者山子Provenance:A distinguished Asian private collection來源：顯赫亞洲私人收藏The remarkable jade boulder is carved with two Buddhist deities: Manjushri riding atop a Buddhist lion and holding a ruyi and the luohan Kalika, shown alongside the elephant. Manjushri, one of the Four Great Bodhisattvas of Chinese Buddhism, is a meditational deity and considered a fully enlightened Buddha. Riding the lion represents the use of wisdom to tame the mind, which is compared to riding or subduing a ferocious lion. The elephant (which in this carving is shown tended by Kalika) symbolises Buddhist might, associated with the animal's immense strength and power, endurance and perseverance.Jade mountains carved with Buddhist figures are more often depicted with a single luohan in a grotto, making the present jade mountain particularly rare with its unusual representation of both Manjushri and Kalika. The master carver demonstrated his consummate skills not only in the detailed carving of the figures and landscape but in the clever use of the stone to create a picturesque multi-layered three-dimensional openwork grotto. Compare a related jade mountain, 18th/19th century, also carved in openwork at the upper section, in the Heber R. Bishop Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.02.18.531). See a related white, grey and russet jade mountain, 18th century, also carved with openwork, which was sold at Christie's New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1508.青玉質，白中閃青，略微留皮。山子隨玉料之形而作，頂部留皮，鏤空雕作山洞，松柏層掩，蜿蜒山道由山洞而出，一側立騎獅文殊菩薩，手持如意，作迎迓狀。隨山道而下一側浮雕老樹虬枝，一側平台高浮雕迦理迦尊者立於象旁，另有一沙彌持法杖侍立於右。山岩之下出清流，山子背面雕瀑布林木，有疊嶂之勢。此山子所用刀工快意大方，而人物雕琢細膩傳神，起承轉合之間頗具張力。文殊菩薩釋迦牟尼佛的左脅侍菩薩，其名意為美妙、雅緻、吉祥與莊嚴。文殊的形象為駕青獅，或持寶劍，或持如意，獅子以示威武，寶劍以示智慧，常與釋迦摩尼和普賢菩薩組成華嚴三聖形象。迦理迦尊者又稱騎象羅漢，為十八羅漢之一，出家前為訓象獅，後來修成正果。梵文「迦理」意為「象」，「伽理伽」即為「騎象人」之意。象在佛教中象徵佛法恆久致遠。美國著名亞洲藝術家畢曉普舊藏一件十八/十九世紀玉雕山子亦局部鏤空，可資參考，現藏紐約大都會博物館，館藏編號02.18.531。另可比對一件十八世紀灰白玉帶皮玉雕山子，亦見局部鏤空，2011年3月24日售於佳士得紐約，拍品1508。