The present lot is a remarkable carving; viewed from each angle the elegant lines render the massive beast in its life-like pose. This unusually fine carving is outstanding compared to other sculptural jades in that it is not a stylised interpretation of the subject, but a true study of the water buffalo at rest.

Compare the present figure to another large grey-green jade buffalo in an identical pose from the Ming dynasty, sold in our New York Rooms, 21 March 2000, lot 126. Other published examples of large jade buffaloes from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties include two Ming figures in the O. C. S. exhibition, Chinese Jades throughout the ages, London, 1975, Catalogue, nos. 396 and 397; another two in the 1957 O. C. S. exhibition, The Arts of the Ming Dynasty, illustrated in the Catalogue, nos. 343 and 344; and one previously from the Lord Gladwyn Collection, illustrated by J. Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, 1995, pl. 26.

(US$190,000-230,000)