A Rare Chinese Jade Inscribed Boulder Carving Qing Dynasty

A Rare Chinese Jade Inscribed Boulder Carving Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period 1736 - 95, and incised with a poem, and with five seal marks including Qianlong Chenhan, 18.5cm high, 15.3cm wide. Worked from a pale celadon coloured stone with honey brown striations, and carved with a solitary Luohan, sitting in a rocky outcrop and wearing loose flowing robes decorated with a geometric pattern. The Luohan, is about to open a hand-scroll, he has left his shoes at the front of the base. The rocks are inscribed with six columns of calligraphy including one rectangular and four square seal marks, the calligraphy with traces of gilding. The poem reads: 'Liao Yi Qie Fa Can Ru Shi Jing Shui Liu Shi Leng Feng Guo Hua Xin Shi Hu Lun Di Shi Guang Ming Zang Li Yi Sao Chu Shi Wei Li Zhang' Which roughly translates as: 'To understand the universe One can study from Buddhist classics, When water runs through stones The stone becomes cold When wind blows through flowers It draws out their perfume' If you understand all It will bring you brightness and wisdom The lower section is inscribed: 'Di Shi San Wei Ba Na Ta Ga Zun Zhe' (the thirteenth Luohan Banata) The seals read: 'Ta Ge (the chamber of Ta) 'Ying Chu Lan Xiang', 'Hui Yue Se ?? You Sheng 'Wei Jing Wei Yi' 'Qian Long Chen Han' Provenance A private collection in Monaco, purchased at Spink & Son Ltd. before 1982. With thanks to Ching-Yi Huang of SOAS for her help in cataloguing this lot.