Lot 3443. A celadon and russet jade figure of a beast, Shang dynasty (circa 1600-1046 BCE); 10.3 cm, 4 in. Estimate 350,000 — 450,000 HKD. Lot sold 350,000 HKD (45,084 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's

depicted crouching on all fours and terminating in a long tapering tail curling upwards at the end, the muscular contours of the horned beast, possibly a stylised tiger, superbly rendered with rounded outlines, incised overall with double-line scrollwork, the prominent snout rendered ferocious with an open mouth baring its fangs below oval eyes, the lustrous stone of a variegated celadon colour accentuated with attractive russet veining.

Provenance: Alvin Lo Oriental Art Ltd, New York. 

Literature: Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection of Chinese Jades from Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, no. 41.