Page 92 - Marchant Ninety Jades For 90 Years

四 47. Mythical seated animal with head raised, upright tail, pronounced spine, single horn, ribbed neck and detailed flowing mane, with
十 hairwork to the edge of the front legs, the underside with detailed pierced rockwork, the stone pale celadon with slight russet markings.
七 2 ⅜ inches, 6.1 cm high.

Song/Ming dynasty, 12th/15th century.
瑞

獸 • From a private French collection.

青 • A qilin in similar pose, dated Tang/Song dynasty, was included by Marchant in their 85th anniversary exhibition of Chinese Jades
白 from Tang to Qing, 2010, no. 74, pp. 100/1; another mythical beast, probably also a qilin, in similar pose is illustrated by Brian
玉 Morgan in Naturalism & Archaism: Chinese Jades from the Kirknorton Collection, 1995, no. 57. The author also illustrates a Qing

dynasty seated hound of similar form, no. 81, and the co-author Li Boqian illustrates another Qing dog in the Palace Museum

宋 Collection, Beijing, in his article, Secular Jades and the Cultural History of China, fig. 10, p. xi; also illustrated by Zhang Guang
/ Wen in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (III), Vol. 42, no. 86, p. 106; another qilin in this
明 posture, from the collection of a Russian nobleman and diplomat, was sold by Woolley & Wallis in their auction of Asian Art I,

18th May 2011, no. 335, p. 109.

• A white jade squatting animal of similar form, dated to the Song dynasty, is illustrated by Yang Xin in The Complete Collection of

Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (I), no. 200, p. 189; another in similar pose, dated to the Yuan dynasty, is illustrated by

Chen Qi Zhen & Liu Jing Xiang in Chinese Jade from the Stony Collection, pp. 18/19.

• Very few pieces are known where the animal sits on rockwork. A standing crane on a rockwork pierced base from an English

Private Collection purchased in London in the late 1950s/ early 1960s, was included by Bonhams in their auction of Fine

Chinese Art, 12th May 2011, lot 70, p. 45.

• The superb finish to both the carving and polish on this piece indicate that it was produced by a master craftsman; the stone is

of exquisite colour and texture.

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