Page 41 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Junkunc Collection

his endearing figure of a camel is
exquisitely rendered in a lifelike
Tmanner. The animal is lying, curled
in a tranquil pose, the long neck coiled and the
head resting on the fore hump. The round pebble
chosen for this subject was used in a highly
effective way, with the natural veins highlighted by
narrow striations to suggest fur and the head and
face defined by simple incisions.

The present figure belongs to a select group
of jade camels portrayed in this particular
curled pose. Characteristic of these figures
is the rounded shape and the sparse surface
decoration, however the underside of the figures
are sometimes more defined.

The coiled position appears to be known from
earlier jade animal figures. Compare a model of
a feline from the Han dynasty, similarly depicted,
with minimal adornment, illustrated in Jessica
Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the
Qing, British Museum, London, 1995, pl. 26:4.

Traditionally linked with the Tang dynasty and the
Silk Road routes, camels are more commonly
portrayed in ceramic as majestic figures carrying
foreigners or loaded with precious goods.
Naturally, they were associated with luxury and
with the exotic, thus conferring status and wealth
to their owners.

本品精刻駱駝，其狀栩栩，憨態可掬。蓋因玉料形
圓，故塑駱駝伏臥曲頸回眸之姿，倚頭輕靠駝峰，蜷
作一團，造型圓潤，以求物盡其用。玉石見天然玉
紋、沁色，絮絮密密，恰巧而借之，表現駱駝皮毛之
態；頭部只寥寥數刀，眼耳口鼻便具已逼真、靈動。

此類玉駱駝，多作蜷臥狀，飽滿圓實，然均甚為惜
工，雕刻極簡，可見面部、軀體之雕工竟不如腿足刻
畫之繁複者。

動物玉雕以盤臥姿勢之造型，於唐以前已見，參考一
漢代玉瑞獸例，幾未見複雜雕飾，可資參照，圖見傑
西卡•羅森，《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic
to the Qing》，大英博物館，倫敦，1995年，圖錄
編號26:4。