A yellow and russet jade mythical beast


Ming DynastyWell carved in the round as a mythical beast resting on its haunches accentuated with clenched toenails, its head raised, the lingzhi-shaped horn resting against its finely incised mane, the face rendered with bulging eyes above an angular nose, its mouth closed issuing fangs, its body further carved with scales and flaming motifs, its ruyi-shaped tail raised against its back, the stone of yellowish green tone with russet inclusions. 7cm (2 3/4in) high.
|明 黃玉雕瑞獸Related dragon-like beasts can be found in the form of stone carvings created to support stelae, such as an example at the tomb of the Yongle emperor, supporting a stele which is dated 1659, bearing a close resemblance to the present lot; see J.Rawson, Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.374, fig.1.See a related green jade recumbent mythical beast, Ming dynasty, in the British Museum, illustrated in ibid., pp.274-275, no.26:18. A further related grey jade mythical beast, Ming dynasty, is illustrated in Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong, 1997, p.160, no.143.瑞獸作蹲踞狀，昂首挺胸，頭上有獨角，角尖與背部上翹尾巴相觸。雙眼突出，鼻扁平微翹。嘴、鬚、及全身陰刻鱗片及火焰紋。明代玉雕動物，多有蹲臥狀，然此瑞獸頭部上揚，較為少見。龍形瑞獸亦在明代石碑基柱可見，如明長陵中一石碑基座，見J.Rawson，《Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁374，圖1。類似明代玉雕瑞獸，見大英博物館藏一例，著錄於上書，頁274-275，編號26：18；另見一明代青灰玉雕瑞獸，著錄於《中國肖生玉雕》，香港，1997年，頁160，編號143。