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The Woolf Charitable Trust, founded on the collection of Sir John
Woolf, the well-known film producer, who was collecting in the
second half of the twentieth century, has two buffaloes, both
attributed to the Qing dynasty, one 28cm length and the 24.9cm.
Carved from a large boulder, the larger is naturalistically depicted
reclining with its legs tucked beneath the full rounded body and its
tail flicked to one side, the head turned to the left to face its hind
quarters and its horns curled back to its spine, the stone of a rich
green colour. It was originally in the collection of Baron Lionel de
Rothschild, then Victor Rothschild, then the collection of Sir Bernard
Eckstein and was bought in 1948 by Sir John Woolf. It is now on
loan to the British Museum and is displayed in the Selwyn and Ellie
Alleyne Jade Gallery, 33B. Sir John Woolf was particularly fond of his
buffaloes and he had this animal copied in bronze. Like so many of
these large jade buffaloes (and horses), the flaring nostrils and well
defined eyes and sockets are notable.
The second Woolf buffalo is smaller at 24.9cm long, and lies
recumbent with its legs tucked beneath the full, rounded body and its
tail tucked up over its right hind leg, the raised head turned sharply to the water deity, who controlled irrigation. The characteristic contour
the right and framed by long ridged horns laid back on the humped
neck above large flattened ears, the spine well defined, the stone of a
dark mottled green tone with darker and pale green inclusions. It has
a rather more quizzical look on its face compared to the larger Woolf
example. It was previously in the Collection of Jacob Goldschmidt
and was exhibited in Berlin in 1929 and bought by Sir John from
Sparks in 1961. See The Woolf Collection of Chinese Jade, London,
2013, pp. 99-100.
J.C.S.Lin, The Immortal Stone: Chinese Jades from the Neo-
lithic Period to the Twentieth Century, Cambridge, 2009, cat.
no.36; image courtesy of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
A large white jade water buffalo was sold by Christie’s Hong Kong, 1
December 2009, lot 3591, 27cm in length. It had been in the family
of a famous Dutch industrialist and collector, Hugo Tutein Nothenius
who was a chemist but had a passion for art. It is an unusually large
buffalo in white jade though obviously several green coloured ones
exceed it in size. It also has a lead-rope attached to its nostrils and
the underside has been worked in great detail with the depiction of
a small, triangular, lattice-strung beaded cloth with a tassel hanging
from it.
Smaller versions of these buffalos also exist in various collections
around the world, many of which are also said to have come from the
Summer Palace in Beijing.
The Art Museum of San Francisco has two buffalos dated to the
Qing dynasty, measuring in length 20.6cm and 20.3cm with the
larger being tended to by two cowherds. The other buffalo is shown
crouching peacefully on bent legs. Its kind smile is intended to evoke
the benevolence and dignity of the god commonly worshipped as
of the back and the depressions indicating joints on the body
unquestionably show the animal’s structural attributes very precisely.
The upraised head and flat-topped horns of the piece, however,
indicate that it is a Qing dynasty version. See Zhongguo yuqi quanji,
Hebei, 1991-3, vol.4, pl.149, a Han dynasty (BC206-AD 220) buffalo
in the Gugong, in Beijing, which according to the San Franciscan
cataloguer, is a possible model for the 18th century carvers.
Yet another exceptional spinach green jade water buffalo was sold
by Woolley & Wallis in 2009, length 20.8cm. This buffalo shared the
characteristic quizzical look on its face, and slightly supercilious air
engendered by the serene mouth, flaring nostrils, with the larger jade
examples of the buffalo. The horns were well demarcated and the
dewlap beneath the neck naturalistically carved and flowing down
to the base. It was accompanied by a gilt bronze base incised with
flowers and foliage to the surface above a key fret bank bearing a
four character Qianlong mark. This buffalo originally belonged in
the West to the 5th Earl of Yarborough who lived 1888-1948 and
was a British peer and soldier. In 1940 he was with his wife coming
back from Palestine when the ship came under enemy fire and
was sunk and as a result the Earl though he survived contracted
respiratory problems and this contributed to his early death in 1948
and the buffalo passed to his eldest daughter, Lady Diana Miller who
subsequently immigrated to Southern Africa. It then disappeared
from sight and was not rediscovered until 2005 when Lady Diana
Miller returned to the UK and a large wooden chest, thought to
contain porcelain was opened and inside was the buffalo carefully
wrapped in newspapers dated 1940.
This select group of large and imposing jade buffaloes are a unique
and discrete jade set within the long history of Chinese jade animals.
These imposing animals were assiduously collected by some of
the great collectors of Chinese art in the twentieth century. Their
appreciation of the craftsmanship and history reflected in this
particular group of animals is well attested to by the Atterbury buffalo,
one of the stars within this group.
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