17TH-18TH CENTURY

This finely carved figure is similar to the white jade figure of a recumbent mythical beast illustrated by James C. Y. Watt in Chinese Jade from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1989, no. 55. The shape of the nose and the softly rounded backbone are very similar, as is the polish. The Seattle figure is dated late Ming to early Qing, and the author notes that the "very fine and technically sophisticated carving points to a date of early Qing." The unusual shape of the nose can also be seen on a yellow and brown jade figure of a mythical animal of Song-dynasty date, illustrated by Watt in Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, The Asia Society, New York, 1980, p. 76, no. 58 and again in the exhibition catalogue, Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong, 1996, pp. 112-13, no. 85.