AN UNUSUAL INSCRIBED PALE YELLOWISH-GREEN JADE CARVING OF A RAM EMERGING FROM A PEBBLE

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AN UNUSUAL INSCRIBED PALE YELLOWISH-GREEN JADE CARVING OF A RAM EMERGING FROM A PEBBLE

SOUTHERN SONG-EARLY MING DYNASTY, 13TH-15TH CENTURY

Details

AN UNUSUAL INSCRIBED PALE YELLOWISH-GREEN JADE CARVING OF A RAM EMERGING FROM A PEBBLE
SOUTHERN SONG-EARLY MING DYNASTY, 13TH-15TH CENTURY
The carving is formed as a ram with backswept horns springing forth from a heart-shaped pebble. The side of the pebble is inscribed with two characters in seal script reading chi shi.
1 ¾ in. (4.5 cm.) long

Provenance

Robert H. Ellsworth (1929-2014), New York.
Anthony Carter, London, 29 March 2004.
The LJZ Collection, United States.

Literature

A. Carter, The LJZ Collection of Chinese Jades, London, 2022, pp. 38-39, no. 14.

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Lot Essay

The two-character inscription on the underside of the present carving, chi shi, is shortened from the idiom chi shi cheng yang, which literally means to “scold” a rock to transfigure into a ram. Originally derived from an essay written by the Tang-dynasty scholar-official Gu Yun, the phrase refers to a mystical or miraculous transformation.

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