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A SMALL GILT-BRONZE HORSE A WHITE JADE ‘PIG’ PLAQUE A CELADON JADE ‘BUFFALO
SIX DYNASTIES AND QILIN’ GROUP
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY QING DYNASTY
A slightly larger figure of a horse, in the Cleveland
Museum of Art, Cleveland, was included in the This plaque is special for its depiction of a pig, the A related carving of slightly larger size is illustrated in
exhibition Arts of the Han Dynasty, Asia House Gallery, twelfth animal of the Chinese zodiac, and may have Robert Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan
New York, 1961, cat. no. 51; and one with a slightly comprised one of a set of twelve similarly shaped and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 189; and a
longer muzzle, in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, plaques each depicting one of the zodiac animals. slightly smaller example was included in the exhibition
Boston, was included in the exhibition Early Chinese Compare a set of twelve zodiac plaques, including one Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art,
Miniatures, China House Gallery, New York, 1977, cat. of closely related shape and carved with a pig, in the Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 159.
no. 69. Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Compendium
of Collections in the Palace Museum. Jade, vol. 9, Qing 50
41 Dynasty, Beijing, 2009, pl. 258; and a set attributed to
the Daoguang reign, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 17th
January 1989, lot 967C.
A CELADON AND RUSSET JADE 44 A CELADON AND RUSSET JADE
HOUND HORSE
QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY
SONG/MING DYNASTY A WHITE JADE CARVING OF
See a slightly larger jade horse that would have been
Playful carvings of jade hounds fashioned in reclining TWO CATS used as a paperweight, in the Fitzwilliam Museum,
poses and with their tail curled against their body were QING DYNASTY, 18TH/19TH Cambridge, illustrated in James C. S. Lin, The Immortal
popular from the Song to Qing periods; compare a jade CENTURY Stone: Chinese Jades from the Neolithic Period to the
hound unearthed from the Yuan dynasty tomb of Zhu Twentieth Century, London, 2009, pl. 47.
Shoucheng and his wife at Gucun, Shanghai, illustrated in A similar carving of two cats is illustrated in Chan Lai
Jade Wares of the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing Unearthed Pik, Chinese Jades: The Dr S.Y. Kwan Collection, Hong 51
from Shanghai, Shanghai, 2001, pl. 143; and another in the Kong, 2012, pl. 59.
British Museum, London, published in Jessica Rawson, A RARE BRONZE BUFFALO-
Chinese Jade. From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, 46 HEAD RHYTON
pl. 26:10, where the author notes that these early carvings 17TH CENTURY
of hounds ‘may have been worn by those who wished to A CELADON AND GREY JADE
be known for their prowess in hunting’, p. 367. Another RAM For the prototype of this piece see a gold-splashed
similar jade dog was included in the exhibition Chinese MING DYNASTY rhyton attributed to the Tang dynasty included in the
Jades from Han to Ch’ing, Asia House Gallery, New York, exhibition Possessing the Past. Treasures from the National
1980, cat. no. 38; one is published in Thomas Fok, The Compare a jade ram similarly modelled with its head Palace Museum, Taipei, The Metropolitan Museum of
Splendour of Jade: The Songzhutang Collection of Jade, Hong turned backward, attributed to the Song dynasty, Art, New York, 1996, cat. no. 351 (e).
Kong, 2011, pl. 78; a third from the Hei-Chi collection included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Carving, Hong
was included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Chinese Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 139. Rhytons of this form were more commonly made in
Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, jade in the 17th century, such as the example also in
1983, cat. no. 135; and a fourth was included in the the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the
exhibition Metal, Wood, Water, Dire and Earth: Gems of Museum’s exhibition Through the Prism of the Past:
Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum Antiquarian Trends in Chinese Art of the 16th to 18th
of Art, Hong Kong, 2002. Century, Taipei, 2003, cat. no. III-26.
47 52
42 A PALE CELADON
A CELADON JADE RAM RETICULATED JADE ‘DRAGON’
PLAQUE
A CELADON JADE CARVING OF MING DYNASTY OR EARLIER MING DYNASTY, LATE
15TH/16TH CENTURY
A HORSE See two jade rams in the National Palace Museum,
Taipei, one attributed to the Song period, illustrated A plaque similarly carved in openwork with a five-
QING DYNASTY, 18TH in Masterworks of Chinese Jade in the National Palace clawed dragon, in the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, is
Museum, Taipei, 1973, cat. no. 23 (right), and the other illustrated in James C.Y. Watt, Chinese Jades from the
CENTURY in A Garland of Treasures. Masterpieces of Precious Crafts Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1989, pl.
in the Museum Collections, Taipei, 2014, pl. IV-83 (lower 51; and another was included in the Min Chiu Society’s
A similar horse fashioned standing with its head lowered, centre); two slightly smaller examples included in the 45th anniversary exhibition Auspicious Emblems. Chinese
was included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition exhibition Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong Museum Cultural Treasures, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong
Chinese Jade Throughout the ages, Victoria and Albert of Art, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. nos 67 and 93, the Kong, 2005, cat. no. 3.
Museum, London, 1975, cat. no. 364; one was included first attributed to the Tang dynasty and the second to
in the exhibition Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, the Song; another in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich,
Asia House Gallery, New York City, 1980, cat. no. published in Marie-Fleur Burkart-Bauer, Chinesische
68; another is illustrated in Robert P. Youngman, The Jaden aus drei Jahrtausenden, Zurich, 1986, pl. 110; and a
Youngman Collection: Chinese Jades From Neolithic to Qing, further ram also attributed to the Song period, in the Zhi
Chicago, 2008, pl. 116; and a slightly smaller example Rou Zhai collection, included in the exhibition Exquisite
was published in Brian Morgan, Dr Newton’s Zoo: A Study Jade Carving, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of
of post-Archaic Small Jade Carvings, London, 1981, pl. 49. Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. no. 88.
134 SOTHEBY’S
