Page 14 - Sotheby's New York Chinese Jade Auction September 13, 2018

PROPERTY FROM THE WILLIAM S. ARNETT COLLECTION, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
906
A RARE WHITE JADE OPENWORK RECTANGULAR PLAQUE
YUAN DYNASTY (1279-1368)
The thick plaque is fnely carved in openwork with a recumbent mythical beast with fames
rising from the fanks and its head turned upwards to look at the moon, surrounded by vapor
that rises from one side opposite a tree bearing three large fowers, all against a background
of pierced rocks. The creamy white stone is imbued with faint russet color.
36 in. (9.5 cm.) wide
$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE
William S. Arnett Collection, Atlanta, Georgia, acquired prior to 1971.
EXHIBITED
On loan: High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, September 1973 to September 1980.

The distinctive, deep style of carving on the present jade plaque, which features fne details
and a dramatic combination of high and low relief carving, is characteristic of Liao, Jin and
Yuan-period jade carvings. The plaque imbues a remarkable liveliness, thanks to the fuid and
bold carving, particularly in the swirling vaporous clouds and the tensed, muscular limbs of
the mythical beast.

A jade plaque featuring a similar carving style and composition but decorated with a hare, in the
British Museum and illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jade, London, 1995, pl. 25:11, where it is
dated Liao or Jin dynasty. On the British Museum plaque, the hare is situated in a mountainous
setting enshrouded by swirling clouds, with its head turned sharply backwards to gaze at the
moon. In her discussion of the plaque, Rawson suggests that jade plaques of this type were “the
frst pictures in jade that included landscape setting for creatures, as opposed to just the creatures,
and as such they mark the beginning of the practice of using jade to present pictures.”

Another jade plaque decorated with tigers and dated to the Yuan dynasty, in the Palace
Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji - 5 - Sui, Tang Ming, Hebei, 1994,
p. 132, no. 198.
元 白玉鏤雕瑞獸圖飾

12 FINE CHINESE JADE CARVINGS from Private Collections