RARE PALE CELADON JADE CARVING OF A BIXIE
WESTERN HAN DYNASTY
£6,000
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art
Auction: 14 May 2021 at 11:00 BST
Description
西漢 青白玉雕辟邪
the mythical beast carved in round, prowling with the right front leg striding forward, its head baring with ferocious teeth and bulging eyes, the muscular body of the horned beast rendered with a large pair of wings extending from the front haunches and detailed with fine plumage, echoing the contours of the long tail, its abdomen carved in relief with male feature, the celadon stone suffused with faint russet inclusions
Dimensions
7.5cm wide
Footnote
Provenance: Private English collection
Note: A closely related carved jade bixie, also dated to the Han dynasty in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (I), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 240, no. 201. Compare also to another bixie dated to the Western Han dynasty in the collection of the Xianyang Museum in Shaanxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji-qin han, vol. 4, Shijiazhuang, 1993, p. 109, no. 148.