With dragon motifs to recto and a character mark to verso. Private collection, California. 来源：加州私人收藏 Wear commensurate with age and use. 有年代和使用磨損 高清细图请访问以下链接 https://oag.smugmug.com/July-Auction-2022 This pieced was carved out of a whole Hetian river pebble jade material. Front of the boulder was carved the motif “Shou”, which means longevity. Back of the boulder was carved with nine dragons amongst auspicious clouds. In the ancient Chinese culture, dragon has nine sons and therefore nine dragons representing an auspicious sign.Dragon was a symbol of imperial power in ancient China. Also, number nine is the largest number in single digits. Therefore, emperors wear nine dragons robe, and heights of their imperial halls in the forbidden city was also measured by multiplications of nine. The material of the jade is delicate, with a slight natural fissure, and with brown spots, and various colors, full of ancient charm. The carving is exquisite, lines are crisp, and it is full of typical Ming Dynasty jade characteristics. It is known that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty respected Taoism, so they often used "shouzi, swastika, linzhi, eight immortals, seahorse, etc." ornaments. The Palace Museum in Beijing has collections of jade wares such as teapots and double-handle cups in the Ming Dynasty, all of which use patterns such as "shou". Therefore, we can tell this celadon jade boulder should have come from the hand of the imperial workshop at that time, and it was appreciated by the emperors at their study hall. See Palace Museum - 00086554, as seen in figure 1；00086648, as seen in figure 2；00086566, as seen in figure 3 . 此件作品由為青白玉質地，以整塊和田籽玉材料雕琢而成，正面雕刻“壽”字，背面刻有九條玉龍穿梭於祥雲之中。古有“龍生九子”之說，因以為飾而示祥瑞。 《文選·張衡＜東京賦＞》：“ 九龍 之內，寔曰嘉德。”龍在古代一直都是帝王的象徵，在中國古代，“九”為陽數的極數，帝王稱“九五之尊”，皇帝穿九龍袍，住處太和殿、中和殿、保和殿的高度都是九丈九尺。這塊籽玉材料細膩，略有天然小綹，並帶有褐色沁斑，色彩斑駁，尤顯古意盎然，表麵包漿均勻潤澤，雕工精湛，線條挺括，充滿典型明代玉器特色。據數據顯示，明代皇帝推崇道教，故多使用“壽字、卍字、靈芝、八仙、海馬等”紋飾。北京故宮博物院有館藏明代執壺與雙耳杯等玉器，都使用“壽字”等紋樣。由此可見，此件青白玉山子應出自當時宮廷造辦處之手，是皇帝案頭賞玩之物。 参阅故宫博物院馆藏，编号故00086554,見圖1；编号故00086648,見圖2；编号故00086566,見圖3。