Page 54 - Robert Youngman Collection Of Chinese Jade March 2019 Sotheby's

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A WHITE AND RUSSET JADE ‘COILED DRAGON’ CARVING
YUAN - MING DYNASTY
the beast’s coiled body carved in high relief atop an integral bi disc, poised in an inward curving crouch with the head resting on a hind paw, the
mouth agape with fangs exposed and the tongue curling upward beneath a bewhiskered lip, the bulging eyes framed by exaggerated comma-shaped
eyebrows, the face further animated by tufts of fur sweeping outward from the cheeks and a long pair of curved horns extending down the neck to
the shoulder blades, the energetic twisting movement of the body accentuated by the rolling contours of the musculature and fur, the bi disc carved in
low relief with chilong roaming amidst swirling clouds
元至明 白玉雕盤龍把件
Length 3⅝ in., 9 cm
$ 50,000-70,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Alvin Lo Oriental Art, Ltd., New York, 21st August 春源齋，紐約，2007年8月21日
2007.

Dragons have been depicted on the surfaces of bi discs since antiquity, however the present carving is exceptional in the fully three-
dimensional sculptural quality of the dragon and its relationship to the disc. In standard versions, the dragon is secondary to the disc, serving
an ornamental purpose with its body proportionally diminutive and its posture determined by the parameters of the ritual ring. By contrast,
this iteration prioritizes the powerful form of the creature, allowing its body to extend so far beyond the bi that the disc is almost totally
enveloped by the dragon. The composition suggests that, here, the dragon serves as the guardian of the sacred implement, both drawing power
from the disc and fiercely protecting it.
The style of carving places this object squarely in the milieu of Yuan and Ming dynasty lapidary craftsmanship. The brawny form accented
with rippling features, such as eyebrows, horns, and tufts of fur, rendered in high relief and softly polished to a harmonious finish, are
consistent with jade representations of other mythical beasts dating to this period. Compare, for instance, a jade water pot carved as a
dragon-headed tortoise, in which the form of the animal’s body and the rendering of the waves on the hexagonal base have been treated
in a remarkably similar manner to the present object, in the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and exhibited in Chinese Jades
from Han to Ch’ing, Asia Society, New York, 1980, cat. no. 61. Additional examples of this mode of figuration are found in a Yuan - Ming
dynasty celadon and russet jade carving of a mythical animal in the Guan-fu Collection, included in the same exhibition, ibid., cat. no. 51;
a Yuan dynasty celadon jade finial in the form of a dragon head in the Freer Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.,
acc. no. S1987.819; a Ming dynasty yellow jade carving of a coiled dragon, also in the collection of the Freer Sackler Galleries, acc. no.
RLS1997.48.2751; a Song - Yuan dynasty brush washer with a phoenix-form handle in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
published in Art in Quest of Heaven and Truth: Chinese Jades Through the Ages, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, pl. 6-2-5b; a Yuan
dynasty ‘chilong’ belt hook with a dragon-head terminus, also in the collection of the National Palace Museum and published in the same
volume, ibid., pl. 6-5-2; and a carving of a bixie, similarly coiled to the present example and dated to the Ming dynasty (or earlier), sold at
Christie’s London, 9th June 1997, lot 212.

52 SOTHEBY’S