A fine jade 'buffalo and boy' group Qing dynasty, 18th / 19th century

the horned beast well carved in the round, lying recumbent with legs tucked beneath its body and head turned to one side, tied to the nostrils with a long rope tossed over its back, with a small laughing boy playfully clambering on the left haunches while grasping the end of the tail together with a stalk of millet, the stone of celadon tone with areas of dark-brown inclusions highlighting the carving, wood stand (2)

Recumbent water buffalo are among the most popular subjects carved in jade.  The buffalo, a classic icon of Chinese painting, is often associated with power and strength, and when depicted with a young boy riding on its back becomes symbolic of obedience and serenity.  See a related black jade sculpture of a boy riding a buffalo in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol. 6, Shijiazhuang, 1993, pl. 272.  A number of earlier sculptures of this design are known such as one attributed to the Yuan dynasty illustrated in James Watt, Chinese Jades from the Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, pl. 47, together with another attributed to the Southern Song and early Yuan dynasty, pl. 46, where the author states that the subject of a boy on a buffalo first appeared in the Southern Song period.