Lot 1209. A rare imperial miniature lapis lazuli 'boulder' on a white jade stand, 18th century; 3 1/8 in. (8 cm.) long. Estimate $60,000 - $80,000. Price realised USD 110,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

Finely carved and rounded as a miniature boulder with numerous crevices, with tufts of grass carved in low relief on several edges, the bright blue stone with soft polish; the white jade stand carved and pierced as rockwork from which grow lingzhiand asters.

Provenance; Douglas J.K. Wright, 1990. 

Note: This exquisite, small lapis lazuli boulder is the type of miniature scholar's article that might have graced a desk or table in the imperial palace, or have been included in one of the Qianlong Emperor's treasure boxes, such as those illustrated by Wen C. Fong and James C.Y. Watt in Possessing the Past: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996, pp. 550-52. The bright color and purity of the stone are similar to that seen in a lapis lazuli seal in the Qing court collection, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Small Refined Articles of the Study, Shanghai, 2009, p. 267, no. 264. 

Christie's. Auspicious Treasures for Scholars and Emperors: Selections from the Robert H. Blumenfield Collection, 22 March 2012; New York, Rockefeller Plaza