Lot 906. A rare white jade openwork rectangular plaque, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 3 11/16 in. (9.5 cm.) wide. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018.

The thick plaque is finely carved in openwork with a recumbent mythical beast with flames rising from the flanks and its head turned upwards to look at the moon, surrounded by vapor that rises from one side opposite a tree bearing three large flowers, all against a background of pierced rocks. The creamy white stone is imbued with faint russet color.

Provenance: William S. Arnett Collection, Atlanta, Georgia, acquired prior to 1971.

Exhibited: On loan: High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, September 1973 to September 1980.

Note: The distinctive, deep style of carving on the present jade plaque, which features fine details and a dramatic combination of high and low relief carving, is characteristic of Liao, Jin and Yuan-period jade carvings. The plaque imbues a remarkable liveliness, thanks to the fluid and bold carving, particularly in the swirling vaporous clouds and the tensed, muscular limbs of the mythical beast.

A jade plaque featuring a similar carving style and composition but decorated with a hare, in the British Museum and illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jade, London, 1995, pl. 25:11, where it is dated Liao or Jin dynasty. On the British Museum plaque, the hare is situated in a mountainous setting enshrouded by swirling clouds, with its head turned sharply backwards to gaze at the moon. In her discussion of the plaque, Rawson suggests that jade plaques of this type were “the first pictures in jade that included landscape setting for creatures, as opposed to just the creatures, and as such they mark the beginning of the practice of using jade to present pictures.”

Another jade plaque decorated with tigers and dated to the Yuan dynasty, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji - 5 - Sui, Tang Ming, Hebei, 1994, p. 132, no. 198.