Lot 323. A rare pale celadon jade tapir-form vessel, Qing dynasty, 18th century. Height 4 1/2  in., 11.4 cm. Estimate 70,000 — 90,000 GBP. Lot sold 75,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's.

finely modeled shown standing foursquare with its head tilted slightly upwards, the back of the hollow body with an opening and two loops connected to its neck, with a fitted cover, decorated overall in shallow relief with archaistic scrolls, all supported on short stocky legs and hoofed feet, the stone of a pale celadon with white mottling (2).

Provenance: Collection of Robert von Hirsch, prior to 1977, thence by descent.

Note: This finely carved tapir-form vessel was modeled after the Warring States or Han archaic bronze vessel types, usually about twice this size. A bronze example of this earlier period is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Special Exhibition of Shang and Chou Dynasty Bronze Wine vessels, Taipei 1989, pl. 66. 

The functions of this jade vessel appears to be decorative, as the integral hinged lid is not designed to remain open without being held which limits the uses of this miniaturized version as discussed by Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 154.  

See a related white jade tapir carving, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2013, lot 3203.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 17-18 march 2015