Page 137 - Sotheby's London Important Chinese Art Nov. 2019

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A MOTTLED JADE FIGURE OF A MYTHICAL A mottled brown and grey jade figure of a ‘squatting
CREATURE monster’ dated to the Six Dynasties period is published
MING DYNASTY OR EARLIER in Rene-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argence, Chinese Jades in the
Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1977, p. 68, pl.
the creature depicted sitting upright, the left hand XXVII. Compare also with a very similar figure of a seated
holding a rosary and the right hand grasping a lotus bud, mythical creature from the collection of Gerald Godfrey,
with two long horns and a long beard, pierced vertically sold in Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th October 1995, lot 863.
from the top of the head to the feet, the brown stone A third figure from this group dated to the Ming Dynasty, is
suffused with russet and grey streaks illustrated in Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong Museum of
Height 4.5 cm, 1¾ in. Art, 1996, cat. no. 146.
PROVENANCE £ 6,000-8,000
Desmund Gure Collection (1906-1970) (according to label). HK$ 59,000-78,500 US$ 7,500-10,000
The Kirknorton Collection.
Carter Fine Art Ltd., London. 明或以前 玉握珠神獸
LITERATURE 來源
Brian Morgan and Li Boqian, Naturalism & Archaism: Chinese Desmund Gure（1906-1970年）收藏（標簽）
Jades from the Kirknorton Collection, London, 1995, pl. 9. Kirknorton收藏
This small figure belongs to a small group of strange Carter Fine Art Ltd.， 倫敦
mythical creatures carved in the round in the same 出版
distinctive posture, all with horns and long triangular Naturalism & Archaism: Chinese Jades from the Kirknorton
beards holding a rosary in one hand. The dating of these Collection，倫敦，1995年，圖版9
ranges from the Six Dynasties Period to the Ming Dynasty.

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