A carnelian agate carving of a recumbent lion


Ming Dynasty or earlierThe beast carved with its legs tucked underneath the body and its tail sweeping along its back leg, its ears flicked back and bulging eyes below a pair of thick eyebrows, above a ruyi-shaped nose, the stone of red and brown tone with some dark grey inclusions, box. 6.3cm (2 1/2in) wide. (2).
|明或更早 瑪瑙雕臥獅鎮紙 Compare with a jade 'mythical beast' weight, Han dynasty, illustrated by J.C.Y.Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p.41, no.10. Compare also with the carving style of a white jade 'lion' weight, Ming dynasty, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 6 Ming Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, p.254, no.260.瑪瑙質，圓雕臥獅，獅方嘴，蒜頭鼻，粗眉，貓耳後伏，獅尾貼伏。明代中期以來，文人雅士皆好古物，一時仿古有之，偽古有之。此獅用刀及形制頗有漢意，可比較一件安思遠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，頁41，編號10。觀本件刀工及線條，則近明代作品，如北京故宮藏一件明代白玉獅，和本件頗似，見《故宮博物院藏品大系玉器篇6》，北京，2011年，頁254，編號260。