A SMALL BROWN AND OLIVE-GREEN JADE FIGURE OF A MYTHICAL BEAST

MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

Details

A SMALL BROWN AND OLIVE-GREEN JADE FIGURE OF A MYTHICAL BEAST
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
The well-carved bixie is shown crouching with head turned to one side as it bears its teeth. The back left leg is somewhat extended over the tail that curls up onto the side. The beast has two horns, and scrolls and fine hair markings on the body, and the semi-translucent, olive-green stone is now primarily of brown or reddish-brown color where it is opaque.
2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm.) long, box

Provenance

Ashkenazie & Co., San Francisco, 21 July 1987.

Literature

Nicole De Bisscop, Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Brussels, 1995, p. 84, no. 43.

Exhibited

Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Kredietbank Gallery Brussels, 25 October - 17 December 1995; Kredietbank Luxembourg, 1 February - 13 April 1996, no. 43.

Brought to you by

Michael Bass

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

The low, crouching position of this mythical beast with its head turned in a somewhat threatening manner towards the viewer, and its teeth bared, is based on carvings of Han or Six Dynasties date, 1st century BC-3rd century AD, such as the jade water pot in the form of a stalking mythical beast, illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 363, no. 26:7, where it is dated Han period, and another jade beast with the same menacing energy, but with its head facing more forward, from Shaanxi Xianyang Xinzhuang, dated 1st century BC, illustrated p. 364, fig. 1.

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