A yellow jade figure of a mythical beast, Qing dynasty, 18th century | 清十八世紀 黃玉瑞獸

A Hong Kong family collection, 1990s.

香港家族收藏，1990年代

The present lot is a testament to the finest quality of jade workmanship produced during the height of the Qing dynasty. The crisp treatment of notched spine and its muscular body its thickly curling tail, serves to highlight the smoothly carved and even-toned stone of the mythical beast's body.

Several carvings of recumbent mythical creatures rendered in a similar stylized manner include a closely related example, but with the head turned, published in Compendium of the Cultural Relics in the Collection of the Summer Palace, Beijing, 2018, pp 98-99 (fig. 1); and a smaller forward-facing version, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, included in Denise Leidy et. al., 'Chinese Decorative Arts', The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer 1997, p. 25. Compare also the exaggerated facial features and body of a jade mythical creature, in the Qing Court Collection and still in Beijing, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware III, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 93