Lot 172. A jade 'yingxiong' group, Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's.

finely rendered in the round as a falcon perched atop a recumbent mythical beast, forming the rebus yingxiong (champion), the long-tailed bird portrayed with a lowered head and finely picked out plumage, the stone of a celadon colour with black patches skilfully worked to concentrate around the falcon's back and the beast's underside - 5.8 cm, 2 3/8  in.

Notes: A related yingxiong carving was included in Naturalism & Archaism. Chinese Jades from the Kirknorton Collection, Carter Fine Art Limited, London, 1995, cat. no. 59; another in the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, illustrated in Angus Forsyth and Brian McElney, Jades from China, Bath, 1994, pl. 292; and a third is offered in this sale, lot 203. See also a carving of an eagle perched on a bear, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Jade, vol. 9, Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl. 149; and another from the collection of Constance Margaret Goldney, sold in these rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 3307.

 Sotheby's. The Muwen Tang Collection of Chinese Jades, Hong Kong, 01 Dec 2016, 10:00 AM