Page 37 - Christie's Fine Jade the LZJ Collection NYC September 21, 2023

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A FINELY CARVED YELLOW AND RUSSET JADE FIGURE OF 南宋 明 十̾至十ω世㈵
A RECUMBENT BACTRIAN CAMEL 黃玉駱駝
SOUTHERN SONG-MING DYNASTY, 13TH-15TH CENTURY
Ϝ源
#MVFUU 4POT
і敦
年代׀
The camel is shown with the head sharply turned and resting against the left haunch.
"OUIPOZ EV #PVMBZ
珍藏
The legs are tucked under the body and the hooves clearly defined. The softly polished
英४૨ਫ਼ṁ郡
yellow stone has areas of russet, particularly to the back and humps. "OUIPOZ $BSUFS
і敦
年 月 日
-+;珍藏
美४
3q in. (8.9 cm.) long, cloth box
$150,000-250,000 ֨ḛ
" $BSUFS
Ǘ5IF -+; $PMMFDUJPO PG
$IJOFTF +BEFTǘ
і敦
年
頁
PROVENANCE: 編號
Bluett & Sons, London, early 1980s.
Anthony du Boulay (1929-2022) Collection, Dorset, England.
Anthony Carter, London, 5 July 1993.
The LJZ Collection, United States.
LITERATURE:
A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 22-23, no. 6.
Camels are part of the Chinese repertoire of animals that are typically depicted in a
seated or resting position. Associated with the opening of the Silk Road during the Han
dynasty, they became popular during the Tang dynasty when pottery representations of
camels either standing or seated were included amongst the figures that were placed in
tombs. They subsequently enjoyed popularity again under the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty.
A yellow jade camel of comparable size (10.2 cm.) and dated to the Song dynasty is
illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 41 - Jadeware (II),
Hong Kong, 1995, p. 68, pl. 58. As with the present figure, the head is turned to the side
and the body is softly contoured. A light green and brown jade camel of comparable size
(9.5 cm.) but shown with head raised and facing forward, in the Museum of Far Eastern
Antiquities, Stockholm, is illustrated by Jessica Rawson in “Chinese Jade throughout the
ages”, T.O.C.S., vol. 40, 1973-75, p. 83, no. 249, where it is dated Song dynasty. See, also,
the white jade camel shown in a similar recumbent position with head turned illustrated
by Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 369,
no. 26:12, where it is dated Song dynasty or later.

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