A pale green and russet jade carving of a lion


Song Dynasty or earlierDexterously carved as a stylised lion seated on its haunches scratching its ear, its head raised and facing forward with bulging eyes and open jaws baring fangs, rendered with a finely combed mane extending from the edge of the jawline and cascading in thick curls down the back of the head and shoulders, the powerful beast with a lean body, its attenuated front left leg supporting its broad chest, the bushy tail tucked and flicked under the body with the curly tip supporting its right front leg, the hind leg raised up to scratch the edge of its ear, the stone of even pale green tone with areas of russet inclusions, box. 5cm (2in) long (2).
|宋或更早 青白玉沁色搔耳獅Proveance:Durwin Tang Collection來源：鄧德雍收藏Lions were traditionally considered symbolic of Buddhism, and representative of the exoticism of the western regions of India and Central Asia. It is said that lions have been among the most prised tributary items presented to the Imperial Court during the Tang dynasty. Large stone sculptures of lions are found at the Imperial Tang tombs, where they were usually placed in pairs as powerful guardians; see a stone lion from the Shaanxi Museum, illustrated by A.Paludan, The Chinese Spirit Road, London, 1991, pls.37-38. In contrast to earlier and more stylised and geometric representation of the animal form in the Han dynasty and Six Dynasties periods, later carved sculptures such as the present lot are rendered with full naturalistic attention to its muscular body and playful posture.The posture of the present jade lion depicting its hind leg raised to scratch its ear is very rare. A closely related pair of marble lions, Tang dynasty, formerly in the Hugh Scott Collection, exhibited at Eskenazi Ltd., London in 1978, is illustrated by H.Scott, The Golden Age of Chinese Art, New York, 1967, fig.118, and later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4 April 2017, lot 3062. Compare also another similarly postured jade bear in Han dynasty style in the British Museum, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.350, fig.1. See also another related example of a jade dog scratching its ear, Song dynasty, illustrated in In Pursuit of Antiquities: 40th Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong, 2001, no.93.獅子本是佛家護法靈獸，從印度經中亞傳至東土，唐代屢有進貢，皇室極為寶之。唐陵墓道兩側及墓內常有石雕獅子，以鎮邪崇。參考一件陝西歷史博物館藏唐代石獅，見A.Paludan著，《The Chinese Spirit Road》，倫敦，1991年，頁37及38。早期獅子雕塑往往形象簡略，如漢代和六朝之獅子雕塑，雕工愈晚則愈為繁複生動，一如此件所示。此件玉獅騷首撓耳之態十分罕見，可參考一對Hugh Scott舊藏之唐代大理石雕獅子， 1978年展於倫敦埃斯卡納齊，見H.Scott著，《The Golden Age of Chinese Art》，紐約，1967年，圖118，後售於香港蘇富比，2017年4月4日，拍品編號3062。大英博物館藏一件漢代風格玉熊，亦作此態，見J.Rawson著《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁350，圖1。另可參考一件宋代玉犬，亦作搔耳貌，見《好古敏求－敏求精舍四十週年紀念展》，香港，2001年，編號93。