A pale green and russet jade carving of a chimera


Song/Yuan DynastyThe mythical beast carved with its head turned backward and to the right, with scrolling T-shaped eyebrows framing the almond-shaped eyes and a ruyi nose, the arched back with an overlapping-ridged spine reaching the long bi-furcated tail coiled over the body flanked by scrolls, the ribs denoted by crescent lines, supported on four well-defined legs with menacing claws, the stone of pale green tone with russet inclusions to the upper section, box. 8.2cm (3 3/16in) long (2).
|宋/元 青玉褐沁辟邪Provenance:Durwin Tang Collection來源：鄧德雍收藏The present rare jade carving of a chimera is a Song/ Yuan dynasty revival of the earlier Han dynasty mythical beast. Compare with a white and russet jade chimera, Han dynasty, in the British Museum, London, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.363, no.26:7. The Han dynasty beast has a more typically ferocious character with a stronger sense of movement; furthermore, the tail tends to be bi-furcated in a different manner compared to the present lot. However, in comparison to a pale green and russet jade chimera, Ming dynasty, in the British Museum, illustrated ibid., no.26:17, the present example would appear to be earlier, with evident differences in the style of carving of the tail and spine, as well as the overall poise which in the coiled position is more typical of earlier examples.宋代復古風潮興盛，此件辟邪或為此風遺緒，其身可見漢代玉雕辟邪之餘風。大英博物館藏有一件漢代白玉褐沁辟邪可作參考，見J.Rawson著《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁363，編號26:7。漢代玉雕異獸往往動態盎然，且尾部分叉而有力，晚期作品則露恬靜之貌。另可比較大英博物館藏一件明代玉獸，本件拍品的尾部及背脊，以及整體形態更近早期風格，見前書，編號26:17。