A rare green and russet jade mythical beast


Eastern Han Dynasty or LaterThe recumbent beast deftly carved in the round, the body coiled with its head turning inwards towards its back, detailed in relief with a single horn between two pointed ears above protruding eyes and flaring nostrils, the muscles of the body accentuated by smooth curved lines, the stone of dark green tone with russet inclusions, wood stand. 7.6cm (3in) wide (2).
|東漢或更晚 青玉雕辟邪紙鎮Provenance:An English private collectionS. Marchant & Son, LondonO.J.R.Allen, UK, acquired from the above on 20 October 2005Marchant, LondonExhibited, Published and Illustrated:S. Marchant & Son, 80th Anniversary Exhibition of Chinese Jades from Han to Qing, London, 2000, no.1Marchant, Chinese Jades from the Mr. O.J.R. Allen Collection, London, 2013, no.1來源：英國私人舊藏倫敦S. Marchant & SonO.J.R. Allen於2005年10月20日購於前者倫敦Marchant展覽、出版及著錄：S. Marchant & Son，《80th Anniversary Exhibition of Chinese Jades from Han to Qing》，倫敦，2000年，編號1Marchant，《Chinese Jades from the Mr. O.J.R. Allen Collection》，倫敦，2013年，編號1Compare with two related jade single-horned mythical beasts, Western Han dynasty, in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong, 1996, p.170, nos.43 and 44; see also a jade scroll weight of the similar form, from the collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, illustrated by J.C.Y.Watt in Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p.41, no.10.青玉質，褐色沁，圓雕辟邪臥像，辟邪獨角，雙耳後伏，大眼，蒜鼻，開口扁闊，前脅生翼，四肢匍匐，尾翹而伏於背。用刀簡練，線條流暢圓潤。辟邪流行於漢代，大英博物館藏有兩件西漢玉辟邪，其形象多為獨角，有翼，見《中國肖生玉雕》，香港，1996年，編號43及44，頁170。此件辟邪雖然也有獨角和雙翼，惟形象更為溫純，更似一件安思源舊藏之漢代玉雕瑞獸紙鎮，見屈志仁，《Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing》，紐約，1980年，編號10，頁41。