A rare pale green jade carving of a foreignerYuan Dynasty
Deftly carved standing with his right leg raised and bent at the knee, with both hands raised to his left side, depicted with a smiling face and long curly hair, wearing a pointed cap and a long flowing robe, stand. 11cm (4 1/4in) high (2).注脚元 青玉雕胡人獻寶擺件

Provenance:
A European private collection

來源：
歐洲私人收藏

The carver has skilfully demonstrated a sense of playfulness in the present lot by incorporating naturalistic elements including the vividly rendered facial features as well as the fluid curves of the body and his robe.

The subject of a foreigner on jade carvings is rare but can be seen as early as the Tang dynasty. The present lot can be compared to a jade figure of a man with similar facial features and body postures, Yuan dynasty, in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, illustrated in the article 'Chinese Jades' by L.P.Roberts, published in Chinese Jades: Selected Articles from Orientations 1983-1996, Hong Kong, 1997, p.97, fig.6. See also a related pottery figure of Yuan dynasty excavated in Henan, illustrated in Historical relics unearthed in New China, Beijing, 1972, pl.193.

青玉質，圓雕胡人像，胡人頭戴軟冠，髮披頸後，深眉大耳，寬鼻闊口，面露笑意，身穿交領窄袖長袍，腰繫長縧，雙手左擎，左手掌心有圓孔，內插寶物已佚，右腿前踏作奉獻勢，褲腳緊裹，不類中原服飾，雕琢生動精細。

胡人獻寶題材從唐代至清代不絕，唐代波斯胡人大量東來，多做珠寶生意，故其形象常做獻寶貌，元代幅員橫跨歐亞，中土胡商比之唐代更有過之，各類藝術形式多有以此為題，惟玉雕作品不多見。美國巴爾的摩沃特斯藝術博物館藏一件元代胡人獻寶玉雕和本件拍品極似，惟所戴冠帽略有出入，見L. P. Roberts著，《Chinese Jades》，載於《Chinese Jades-Selected articles from Orientations 1983-1996》，香港，1997年，頁97，圖6；河南出土之一件元代陶俑和此形象亦可參考之，見《新中國出土文物》，北京，1972年，圖版193。