A large jade carving of a recumbent mythical beast. 17th century

looking sharply to the left with its face resting placidly on its left leg, its eyes wide open and alert, its mouth half partially open in a snarl, the body in a relaxed pose with is tail curled around its hindquarters, the details finely incised, the stone of a greyish tone and with flecked brown and black areas, wood stand. 27cm., 10 5/8 in. Est. 20,000—30,000 GBP. Lot Sold 30,000 GBP

PROVENANCE: Christie's London, 13th February 1978, lot 110.

Christie's London, 6th July 1983, lot 614.

NOTE: Although mythical beasts of this type form one of the major categories of jade animal carvings, the present example is unusual for its impressive size. Compare a much smaller mythological beast rendered in an archaistic style, from the collection of Gerald Godfrey, and sold at Christie's London, 30^th October 1995, lot 888; another jade carving sold in these rooms, 31^st July 1956, lot 151, and again, 9^th June 2004, lot 140; and one, from the collection of Ip Che, included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 161.

For examples of recumbent jade animals of similar size and style, see a buffalo included in the Oriental Ceramics Society exhibition Chinese Jade throughout the Ages, London, 1975, cat. no. 396; and a slightly smaller figure of a horse illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 26:20.

The combination of the material jade and the imaginary auspicious creature suggests that such items may have had some protective function and were in some way intended to benefit their owners.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 13 May 09. London www.sothebys.com