A LARGE CHINESE JADE CARVING OF A MYTHICAL HORSE

Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty

明至清 玉馬

Carved from large piece of green and russet jade with inclusions carved in Han-style depicting a mythical winged horse. The horse in recumbent pose with an open mouth, reveals the well defined teeth. The conical ears are set either side of the crested incised, curved mane, which diminishes in height, leading to a well defined spine and long curled tail. To each side of the body there are three defined curved wings. The right foreleg is extended forwards. The other legs are tucked in with finely carved hooves. The head is bent downwards and inclined to the left. The carving is decorated with fine lines over many of its prominent features.

12 high, 23cm wide, 8.5cm deep

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REFERENCES:

For larger pair of comparable carvings, please see a pair of green jade horses and another pair from the John D. Rockefeller 3rd, attributed to the Ming Dynasty, exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum and published in Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, London, 1975, pgs. 18 and 118‑119, Catalogue, nos. 392‑393;

See another jade horse carving from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, illustrated by J.C.S. Lin in The Immortal Stone: Chinese Jades from the Neolithic Period to the Twentieth Century, Cambridge, 2009, Catalogue, no. 39;

Compare with Bonhams, Hong Kong, 26/11/2019, Lot 51;

Another see Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Museum, Jenny F.So, pg. 297, cat. 43B.