Lot 55. A rare spinach-green jade 'Laozi passing through the Hangu pass' double-sided circular screen, Early 19th century; 21.5cm (8 1/2in) diam. Estimate HK$ 600,000-800,000. Sold for HK$ 1,036,000 (€ 123,180). Photo: Bonhams.

Skilfully worked into a large circular plaque with varying levels of relief on both sides, the front side decorated with Laozi riding a buffalo flanked by a young attendant, greeted by Yinxi beside his attendant holding a plantain leaf fan, all within a landscape scene with the fortified Hangu Pass at the top, amidst rocky ledges, lush pine trees, and a waterfall, the reverse carved with a large pavilion beside a river with tall overhanging pine trees and a crane in mid-flight overlooking another crane perched on rockwork, the stone of an intensely rich spinach green tone with minor pale green speckled inclusions.

Provenance: A European private collection.

Note: The rare double-sided spinach-green jade screen depicts on its front the episode of the great philosopher and poet Laozi, founder of Daoism, passing through the Hangu Pass meeting the commander of the Pass, Yinxi. Various versions of the legend exist. According to one, when Yinxi was guarding the Hangu Pass in Henan Province, he saw a purple vapour coming from the east, auguring the arrival of an important person. He cleared the paths and waited outside, soon seeing Laozi arriving on his mount. Yinxi invited Laozi into his place of meditation, where the philosopher wrote the Daode jing ('Book of Dao') and gave it to him. Laozi then remounted and disappeared into the mist. This theme is also known as ziqi donglai ('purple vapour coming from the east') and is an idiom for foretelling the coming of miraculous things to come. According to other versions Yinxi became a disciple and left with Laozi.

A green jade boulder with the same subject matter, from the Avery Brundage collection, is illustrated by M.Knight, He Li and T.Tse Bartholomew, Chinese Jades: Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, 2007, pl.360. For a related subject matter on the reverse of a crane looking up at another in flight, see a white and russet jade circular screen, Qianlong, from the Musée National du Château de Fontainebleau, illustrated by M.Crick, Chine Impériale: Splendeurs de la Dynastie Qing (1644-1911), Geneva, 2014, p.153, pl.68.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 4 June 2015