SONG-MING DYNASTY (AD 960-1644) OR EARLIER

As Jenny So notes in “The Functions of Jade Animal Sculptures in Ancient China,” Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 30, beginning in the Han dynasty jade animal sculptures “figured as an integral part of the daily lives of their owners and admirers”. So explains, “With their colourful mythological and philosophical associations, it would be easy for these sculptures to capture the imagination of the educated gentleman and become a prized element of his interior furnishings. Like the miniature gardens of the Tang dynasty, a single or a select group of jade animals in the home could evoke an idyllic world where one could escape from the burdens of everyday life.”

The present figure, with its compact, muscular round body squatting on four strong limbs, exemplifies the type of small jade carvings of mythical beasts that enjoyed popularity from the Han dynasty onwards. Several jade figures of this type are illustrated in Chinse Jade Animals, op. cit., including two identified as chimera, pp. 78-9, nos. 43 and 44, and dated Han dynasty and possibly Western Han dynasty, respectively, as well as a carving of a tiger and bear, pp. 82-3, no. 48, which is dated to the Han dynasty and carved from a white stone with russet brown areas. The paws and claws of the tiger and bear are similar to those on the present figure, and the head of the tiger is also heavily stylized and has a blunt, straight jaw.