A rare and large Laoshan scholar's rock

Qing Dynasty

Footnotes

清 嶗山石山子配阮元款座

Unlike well-known Taihu, Lingbi and Yingde rocks which have a long history of being collected and appreciated over centuries, Laoshan rocks (found near Laoshan, Shandong Province) only became popular as scholar's rocks no earlier than the mid Qing dynasty. Xiao fanghu, a Laoshan rock collected by Gao Fenghan (1683–1749) and Wu Hufan (1894–1968), dated 1716, is probably one of the earliest Laoshan rocks with a documentary date; see Elegant Friends for a Lofty Studio: Scholars' Rocks Presented by Ms. Hu Kemin, Shanghai, 2020. Compare also with a similar Laoshan rock, 'Yuezhao kungang', collected by Chen Jieqi (1813-1884), which was illustrated by C.Zhang, Jianshan mingjia shuoshoucang: Zhang Chuanlun shuogongshi (Collectors' Collections Notes: Zhang Chuanlun's Note on Scholar Rocks), Beijing, 2016, p.111.

Ruan Yuan (1764–1849), an important scholar in the first half of 18th century, was also a prominent collector of archaic bronzes and scholar rocks. He published the renowned five volumes of Shihua Ji (Book of Pictorial Rocks) in 1832, which was a milestone for the research of scholar's rocks in the Qing dynasty.

崂山綠石質，橫山形，三山兩壑，溝澗略有打磨，石質深翠厚潤，墨綠如黛，略有黑色石理，硬木底座一角上陰刻「阮元之印」。

嶗山綠石乃中國文人供石後起之秀，又稱海底玉，只產於青島嶗山附近海溝內。清中期以來，多有名人追捧，陳介祺(1813-1884)、高鳳翰（1683–1749）所藏名品皆有傳世。如陳介祺舊藏之嶗山綠石山子「月照昆崗」，見張傳倫著，《鑒賞名家說收藏：張傳倫說供石》，北京，2016年，頁111；以及高鳳翰舊藏之嶗山綠石山子「小方壺」，現藏上海博物館，見《高齋雋友：胡可敏捐贈文房供石展》，上海，2020年。

阮元（1764–1849），乾嘉時期著名金石學者，著有《石畫記》五卷，為有清一代中國賞石譜錄之最。