A rare inscribed Shoushan soapstone 'immortals' mountain, By Wang Zhu, Qing dynasty, 18th century

Christie’s New York, 21st March 2000, lot 44.

The present mountain represents the pinnacle of lapidary arts at their zenith in the eighteenth century. Paying close attention to the natural colors, contours and softness of the stone, the carver has rendered a vivid landscape filled with lush forests, wild rocks and stately pavilions, visited by nine immortals. While still tactile and three-dimensional, the flattened perspective and rich detailing of the mountain also seem to echo China’s ink painting tradition; each stroke of the carver’s blade made with intention, drawing one’s eye across the vibrant scene, without the need for excessive refinement.      

Little is known about the carver Wang Zhu, whose name so frequently crops up in discussions of the finest soapstone works. First recorded in Zhang Junxun’s seminal 1934 Study of Shoushan Stone (Shoushan shi kao), Wang Zhu is lauded for his "lofty and ancient brushstrokes and exquisite craftsmanship," and for fully utilizing "the stone's color, following its shape and form, creating majestic mountains, pavilions, and bridges with just a few casual strokes." While contemporaries like Yang Yuxuan and Zhou Bin are particularly known for their detailed figural work and seal carvings, Wang’s oeuvre extends equally to vibrant landscape boulders like the present which are preserved in important public and private collections across the globe.

Compare a closely related mountain signed by Wang Zhu, preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. gu za 007862) (Fig. 1), illustrated on the Museum’s website; another preserved in the Tianjin Museum, Tianjin, illustrated in Tianjin Bowuguan [Tianjin Museum], Hong Kong, 2012, pl. 297; and a brush rest in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis (accession no. 2007.60.3), illustrated in Liu Yang, ‘In Pursuit of the Picturesque. Jades from the Qianlong Era in the Minneapolis Institute of Art’, Orientations, vol. 52, no. 5, figs 12-14 (Fig. 2), where the author attributes Wang Zhu’s work to circa 1740s to 1770s. Two further carvings attributed to Wang Zhu are included in Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1986, cat. nos 48 and 267, the latter closely related in style to the present; and another was sold at Bonhams London, 3rd November 2022, lot 211. 

For other pieces by Wang Zhu and further discussion of the carver’s identity, see Hugh Moss and Richard John Lynn, ‘Soapstone Portraits. The Art of Wang Nanqiao’, Arts of Asia, July-August 2017, pp 90–102, in which the authors remark at the close similarities between works marked Wang Zhu and those attributed to Wang Nanqiao or Wang Ben, a well-established eighteenth century carver, most notable for his famous portraits of his friend the imperial superintendent Tang Ying (1682–1756).