Lot 108. A rare reticulated white and grey jade 'Immortals' plaque, Song-Yuan Dynasty. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

the rectangular plaque intricately pierced and carved with a scene of two Daoist immortals standing on either side of a bridge across a waterfall, one holding a mythical tortoise emitting vapor, the other resting one arm on the trunk of gnarled pine tree, all set within a dense landscape of pierced rockwork, lingzhi fungus andwutong, carved through the white stone to form the first register of relief, revealing the grayish-black stone behind. Width 3 5/8  in., 9.2 cm

Notes: The present lot is remarkable for its intricately-executed multi-level openwork, with a register of pierced rockwork forming a 'background' to the scene, which not only highlights the two immortals, but also conveys a naturalistic three-dimensionality to the narrative. A small number of related plaques are known. Compare a similar green jade plaque, dated to the Song-Yuan period, included in the exhibition catalogue Art in Quest of Heaven and Truth. Chinese Jades through the Ages, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2011, cat. no. 6-2-7, and two white jade plaques dated to the Song dynasty from the Qing Court collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (II), Hong Kong, 1995, pls 91-92.  

The use of the layer of gray stone on the present plaque to form the 'background' of the landscape is a further imaginative way of accentuating detail and is characteristic of lapidary work of this period. A Song dynasty plaque in the Qing Court collection carved with two mythical beasts utilizes the grayish-black inclusions within the stone in a similar manner, but instead of using it to create a vertical backdrop, it has incorporated it as a horizontal plane to form the ground on which the animals lie, op. cit., pl. 56. 

Sotheby's. Chinese Art from Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, New York, 15 Mar 2016, 02:00 PM