A yellow jade figure of a deer 17th century | 十七世紀 黃玉臥鹿

Humphrey Hui, Tina Pang, and Michael Liu, Virtuous Treasures: Chinese Jades for the Scholar's Table, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2008, cat. no. 101.

許建勳、彭綺雲、劉瑞隆，《閣有天珍：中國文房玉雕》，香港大學美術博物館，香港，2008年，編號101

Small jade carvings of animals, often depicted in recumbent poses, became an essential item for the scholar’s desk as they were used both as paperweights and as works of art in their own right. This exquisite carving of a crouching deer is fashioned from a fine stone of an attractive yellow tone. The skilled artisan succeeded in capturing the lively spirit of the creature, whilst conveying the Daoist essence of longevity and immortality. The silky finish of the present piece gives it an extremely tactile quality.

Compare a white jade carving of a mythical beast and its cub from the collection of Mr and Mrs Philip Chu, with closely related treatment of the facial contours, included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 143; and another jade figure of a ram from the Peony Collection, exhibited in Angus Forsyth and Brian McElney, Jades from China, The Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, 1994, cat. no. 277.

Jade carvings of deer can be found as early as the Tang dynasty, when they began to be widely associated with Daoist notions of immortal worlds. Compare a Tang-dynasty celadon jade crouching deer in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, smaller in size and with a flat, oval-shaped horn on the top of its head, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jade], vol. 5, Shijiazhuang, 1993, pl. 38. 

玉雕瑞鹿，精妙靈動，取溫潤黃玉琢之。巧匠高能，重現仙鹿自然靈動姿態，栩栩如真，端雅脫俗，並寄意道家長壽不老之祝願。玉鹿不僅工藝臻善，賞心悅目，通體潤澤輝耀，柔滑適手，玩賞之間，令人愛不釋手。

朱家祥伉儷收藏有一白玉子母瑞獸，面部輪廓處理相類，可資比較，曾展於《中國玉雕》，香港藝術館，香港，1983年，編號143；牡丹堂藏另有一相類臥羊作例，曾展於霍爾及麥雅理，《Jades from China》，東亞藝術博物館，巴斯，1994年，編號277。

鹿形玉雕可溯至唐代，道家學說納靈鹿於龍、鳳等神瑞異獸之列，進而盛行。參考一件唐代青玉臥鹿，尺寸較小，頭頂以玉皮琢雕珍珠盤式鹿角，現藏北京故宮博物院，錄於《中國玉器全集》，卷5，石家莊，1993年，圖版38。