Lot Essay
The rounded body, proportions, facial features and gentle expression of this lot compare well to the pair of recumbent grey stone camels flanking the Spirit Road leading to the Ming Imperial tombs outside Beijing illustrated by Paludan, The Imperial Ming Tombs, fig. 20. The stone figures differ in the positioning of the raised head and hind legs.
A large recumbent camel of more compact form than the present lot from the Bull Collection, tentatively dated Song dynasty, was included in the exhibition Chinese Jade throughout the Ages and illustrated in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1973-75, no. 258. Another Ming dynasty celadon jade bearded recumbent camel with well articulated folds of skin in the Palace Museum Collection is illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 5, no. 245, where the author notes that two trends are evident in the carving; archaism and realism.
A large recumbent camel of more compact form than the present lot from the Bull Collection, tentatively dated Song dynasty, was included in the exhibition Chinese Jade throughout the Ages and illustrated in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1973-75, no. 258. Another Ming dynasty celadon jade bearded recumbent camel with well articulated folds of skin in the Palace Museum Collection is illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 5, no. 245, where the author notes that two trends are evident in the carving; archaism and realism.