AN EXCEPTIONAL AND POWERFULLY CARVED WHITE JADE FIGURE OF A BIXIE WESTERN HAN DYNASTY

powerfully rendered in the form of a bixie prowling with the left front leg striding forward, the head depicted turned over its back and resting on the rounded rear of its sinuous body, the mythical beast portrayed with a pair of funnel-form ears flanking a long curled horn, staring intensely through bulging eyes above a well-pronounced snout, the slightly agape mouth baring its teeth and sharp canines, the muscular body skilfully picked out with a pair of wings extending from the front haunches and further terminating with a furcated tail echoing the curved contours of the wings and subtly detailed with a phoenix head, the lustrous white stone highlighted with attractive russet patches

Good condition. As visible in the catalogue photo, there is extensive calcification to the stone, especially the underside.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Carved from white jade with a fine texture resembling mutton fat and patches of russet skin, this bixie is rendered semi-recumbent with the head turned backwards. Staring with large and round eyes, it scowls and reveals its sharp fangs, with its hair oriented backwards, and tail curled. It has horns on the back of its head and wings on both sides of its body.

The jade is warm and luxurious like mutton fat. The carving is refined and subtle, articulating the bixie’s fierceness and dynamism in natural and fluid lines. The virtuosic craftsmanship is especially evident in the hair on the bixie’s head.

The bixie is a mythical animal with the head of a lion, a single horn, and wings. After being introduced into Chinese culture from the western regions, it became a frequent subject of visual depiction during the transition from the Western Han to the Eastern Han dynasties. It appeared in a variety of media, from large-scale stone sculptures along the spirit paths of mausolea to small and delicate accessories made of gold, silver and copper. These various artefacts make the bixie an important example of vernacular Chinese representations of mythical animals. See Sun Ji, Handai wuzhi wenhua ziliao tushuo/Illustrated Explanations of the Material Culture of the Han Dynasty, Beijing, 1991, p. 420; Li Ling, 'Lun Zhongguo de you yi shenshou [Discussion of Chinese winged beasts]', Zhongguo xueshu/Chinese Scholarship, vol. 5, January 2001, pp. 62-135.

This white jade bixie strikes an unusual pose: its head turned backwards with its chin resting on its lower back, its wings flipped downwards to touch the ground. Of the same type are two white jade bixie carved in the round, excavated from the Weiling Mausoleum of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty in Xianyang, Shaanxi. However, differing from the present work, one of the Weiling bixie lifts its head, while the other appears to be crawling prostrate. See Gu Fang, Zhongguo chutu yuqi quanji/The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 14, Beijing, 2005, pp. 163-164. The highly decorative rendition of the rear wing is similar to a shaman wearing feathers and riding a bixie (Collection of the Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., accession number S.1987.26).