Page 76 - Youngman jade Collection Hong Kong March 3 2019 Sotheby's

3428
A JADE FIGURE OF A BUFFALO
SHANG DYNASTY
standing foursquare with its cuboid body defined by stylised scrolls, its head looking straight ahead, detailed with eyes, an angular
snout and a pair of flat horns, the opaque stone of a creamy beige tone with light grey and brown inclusions
商 玉臥牛
5.6 cm, 2⅛ in.
HK$ 200,000-300,000
US$ 25,500-38,300

PROVENANCE 來源
Alvin Lo Oriental Art Ltd, New York 春源齋，紐約
LITERATURE 出版
Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection 羅伯特．楊門，《楊門藏玉：中國玉器．新石器時代至
of Chinese Jades from Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 清代》，芝加哥，2008年，圖版34
2008, pl. 34.

The current jade buffalo is closely related to another Shang jade buffalo unearthed from the tomb of Lady Hao, consort of the
King Wu Ding, depicted kneeling on its forelegs, illustrated in Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu, Beijing, 1980, pl. 136, no. 5. Compare
also a Shang jade buffalo donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York by John M. Crawford Jr., included in the
exhibition Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, May 1, 1975–June 3, 1975, cat. no. 46. The
texture of the stone on the current buffalo and the Metropolitan Museum closely match each other, both of a distinct creamy-
beige colour with attractive light grey and brown inclusions.
The form of the current jade buffalo differs slightly, less stylised and geometric in form, than another Shang dynasty jade
buffalo, lot 3403 in this sale. Both demonstrate the highly stylised approach of the Shang artisan, carved in the round from
lustrous stone, their stylised features sensitively rendered with skilful incisions, the surface of both bodies covered with a
design of raised-line square spirals. The overall representation is highly abstract, with use of these scrolling geometric motifs
to convey the archaistic design, but with key features including the horns, eyes, nose and snarling expression naturalistically
rendered. For additional notes on Shang jade buffaloes, see the footnote to lot 3403.

74 SOTHEBY’S