18TH CENTURY

Details

A FINELY CARVED WHITE AND GREY JADE 'MYTHICAL BEAST' BUCKLE
18TH CENTURY
The buckle is finely carved in the form of a mythical beast, with the legs tucked under its body and the head turned backwards towards its long curled tail. A long-tailed bird is depicted perched on the beast's back. The reverse is carved with a pierced boss and a hooked clasp shaped as a stylised chilong head. The stone is of a pale tone, with a small grey area skilfully reserved for the depiction of the bird.
3 3/8 in. (8.5 cm.) long

Provenance

With Gerard Hawthorn Ltd., London, 1998.
Previously in a private collection.
Christie's New York, 19 September 2007, lot 82.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Brought to you by

Cherrei Yuan Tian

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

ytian@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2571

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

The present single-unit belt buckle is quite rare, as it is more common to find jade belt buckles with two separate latching pieces carved with naturalistic subjects. One other rare example is provided by a Qianlong period single-unit jade belt buckle, decorated with a dragon and a dragon-shaped clasp, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 42 - Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 13, no. 9.

More from Appreciating Elegance: Art from the Sui Yuan Zhai Collection

View All