Property from the Collection of Colonel Tom HallA pale celadon jade figure of an immortalQing dynasty, Qianlong periodwood stand(2)Height 10 cm, 4 in.__________________________________________________________________________Collection du Colonel Tom Hall (1928-2022) Statuette d'un immortel en jade céladon pâle, dynastie Qing, époque Qianlong__________________________________________________________________________Tom Hall上校 (1928-2022) 珍藏清乾隆 青白玉仙人立像专文: Colonel Tom Hall (1928-2022) was Lieutenant of the Gentlemen at Arms, the sovereign’s ceremonial bodyguard, and an entrepreneur in the field of international language schools. He also played a prominent role in the development of the French Alpine resort of Méribel as a favoured destination for British skiers. As a young officer of the 11th Hussars, the cavalry regiment he would go on to command, Hall had skied for the Army in the early 1950s. He first visited Méribel in 1962 with an introduction to Major Peter Lindsay, the British pioneer who had spotted the potential of the slopes above the commune of Les Allues in the Savoie mountains in the 1930s and returned after the war to develop lifts and accommodation around the Méribel hamlet. Hall commissioned a family chalet beside the piste and in 1967 joined the board of the resort’s operating company, Méribel Alpina – succeeding Lindsay (who died in 1971) as a British voice in its affairs. Over the following three decades, he was engaged with the town’s leaders in a strategy which added more hotels and links across the vast Trois Vallées ski area while seeking to attract year-round visitors – and conserving a special Savoyard charm, to which a cohort of early British chalet-owners added a distinctive patina of Englishness. When Méribel hosted part of the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, Hall enlisted as a uniformed volunteer to look after visiting dignitaries.Thomas Armitage Hall was born on April 13 1928, the only child of Athelstan “Johnny” Hall and his wife Nancy, née Dyson – and a great-grandson of a Herefordshire miller who emigrated to Australia in the 1850s. After returning to England, the family acquired the Cricket St Thomas estate in Somerset — later the setting for the television comedy To The Manor Born — where Tom spent much of his childhood. Educated at Heatherdown prep school and Eton, he first skied with his parents at Wengen in Switzerland in 1938.Commissioned into the 11th Hussars in 1947, Hall joined an armoured-car squadron in Berlin and was posted in 1952. He also served in Malaya during the Emergency as escort troop commander and extra ADC to the High Commissioner, General Sir Gerald Templer. Next, under the auspices of the British Council, Hall ventured to Japan to explore the possibility of launching English language schools there as a business. In partnership with a specialist teacher, John Haycraft, a contract was secured to train guides for the forthcoming World Expo 70 in Osaka, and in due course International Language Centres (ILC) were also established in Tokyo, Nagoya and Kobe. More schools followed in Paris, Rome, Bangkok and the Middle East as the business grew to employ some 200 teachers before its sale in 1988.Hall was asked by the Foreign Office in 1983 to take Prince (now Emperor) Naruhito of Japan under his wing. In preparation for a post-graduate studentship at Merton College, Oxford, the prince spent three months at Chiselhampton improving his English, playing tennis and attending local fêtes; he also skied with the family in Méribel.The passion for Jades started in the Hall family with Tom's uncle, Harold Wesley Hall (1888-1974), who acquired several Chinese jades from John Sparks Ltd and Spink and Son Ltd, in London, in the 1960s. Harold Wesley eventually left his collection to his nephew Tom, amongst them the beautiful celadon jade 'marriage' bowl, lot 13 in this sale, and the large spinach-green brushpot, lot 21.Appointed OBE in 1966 and CVO on retirement from the Gentlemen at Arms, Colonel Tom Hall was high sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1981-2. He skied elegantly until his eightieth year and made his last visit to Méribel this summer, sixty years after his first.__________________________________________________________________________Tom Hall上校（1928-2022年）生前為英君主禮儀衛隊──「皇家親衛兵和武裝紳士榮譽衛隊」中尉，亦為多所國際語言學校之創辦者。Hall上校對法國阿爾卑斯山度假聖地梅里貝勒之發展，亦扮演重要前鋒角色。此鎮備受英國滑雪愛好者青睞。1950年代早期，Hall為英國陸軍第11阿爾伯特親王屬驃騎兵團年輕軍官（後升任了該部隊指揮官），在軍中滑雪效力。在英國陸軍少校Peter Lindsay引介之下，Hall於1962年首次造訪梅里貝勒。早於1930年代，Lindsay率先注意法國薩華山區萊薩呂市鎮附近坡道的滑雪潛力，其餘二戰後重遊此地，在梅里貝勒鎮週邊興建纜車及住宿。Hall於1967年加入該度假勝地的運營公司Méribel Alpina的董事會，繼任Lindsay（逝於1971年）作爲英方在公司事務上的發言人，並於滑雪道旁興建一座木屋別墅。其後三十餘年，他攜手各市鎮首腦佈局戰略，在三山谷滑雪區內開發旅遊住宿及此區間鎮間交流，全年吸引遊客，同時保留當地特有的薩瓦風情，而早期英國木屋業主更爲其增添獨特的英國韻味。1992年阿爾貝維爾冬季奧林匹克運動會，梅里貝勒鎮參與協辦，Hall上校義不容辭自願為義工，接待來訪顯要。Thomas Armitage Hall生於1928年4月13日，身為Athelstan ‘Johnny’ Hall及其夫人Nancy（舊姓Dyson）之獨子，其曾祖為英國禧福郡一磨坊主，於1850年代移居澳洲。回遷英國後，閤家定居森麻實郡Cricket St Thomas莊園，此地後為電視喜劇《生於莊園》取景之地，亦是Tom 度過童年之處。Hall就讀於Heatherdown 預備學校及伊頓公學。1938年在父母陪同下，於瑞士溫根初次體驗滑雪。1947年，Hall加入英國陸軍第11阿爾伯特親王屬驃騎兵團，服役於部署在柏林的一支裝甲車中隊，直至1952年被調離。接著在「緊急狀態」 時期赴馬來西亞，任護衛部隊指揮官兼編外侍從官，襄助英國最高專員、上將Gerald Templer爵士。Hall在英國文化協會的贊助下遠赴日本，尋求興辦英語學校之商機。其與教育專家John Haycraft合作，與日方簽訂協議，為1970年大阪世界博覽會培訓導遊，屆時國際語言中心（ILC）亦在東京、名古屋、神戶紛紛成立。此後，公司業務持續增長，於巴黎、羅馬、曼谷及中東地區陸續創辦多所學校，至1988年出售前，公司已僱用逾兩百名教師。1983年，Hall上校應外交部要求，照拂日本德仁皇太子（今上天皇）。皇太子準備牛津大學墨頓學院一項研究生獎學金申請期間，曾客居Chiselhampton 三月，鍛煉英語，打網球，參加本地遊樂會，並與Hall及其家人前往梅里貝勒滑雪。Hall上校對玉之熱愛源自於伯父Harold Wesley Hall先生 (1888-1974)。1960年代其於倫敦John Sparks Ltd and Spink & Son Ltd藝廊購得數件玉器珍品。最後Harold Wesley Hall將收藏贈予給侄兒Tom Hall，其中包括本次拍品編號13之乾隆青白玉雕如意雙喜紋祥蝠耳活環洗，及編號21之乾隆碧玉雕福祿壽三星圖筆筒。1966年Hall上校被授予大英帝國勳章。自皇家親衛兵和武裝紳士榮譽衛隊退休時，又榮膺皇家維多利亞司令勳章，並於1981-1982年擔任牛津郡高級治安官。Hall上校直到八十高齡仍堅持滑雪的愛好，並於首次來訪六十年後的夏天，最後一次到訪梅里貝勒。