A LARGE CARNELIAN AGATE FIGURE OF A MYTHICAL BEAST QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY |

the substantial boulder carved in the form of a recumbent beast with the tail curled alongside its rear haunches, the vermillion-red sections of the stone skilfully carved as its sharply backward-turned head, detailed with bulging eyes beneath coiled eyebrows, flaring nostrils and an opened mouth revealing sharp fangs, its mane and tail incised with fur, the milky-white part of the stone forming its muscular body with powerful limbs and a pronounced spine

Rare Art Ltd, New York. 9th May 1980.

The present figure is impressive for its large size and vibrant colour. A sense of playfulness is captured through the creature’s animated expression, bulging eyes and dynamic posture, while its power is implied through the clever incorporation of the natural inclusions of the stone into the overall composition. Such carvings required craftsmen to visualise their final work by merely examining the pebble while being able to adapt it spontaneously depending on further inclusions they came across while modelling the piece. Agate is a rare material that naturally forms when the iron content from the earth’s surface is suffused within cooled down lava. This specific type, distinctive for its striking vermillion-red colour, is categorised as nanhong (‘south red’) in Chinese, as such material was only available in the southwest part of China, modern-day Yunnan province. Such quality of carnelian agate was among the semi-precious stones prized by the Qing court and was more frequently utilised for the production of playthings, snuff bottles and other small intricately carved scholar’s objects during the 18th century, when the art of agate carving reached its unprecedented height.

See a small double vase carved with the Three Friends of Winter, from the collections of George de Menasce and Pierre de Menasce, included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1975, cat. no. 491, and sold in these rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 3746; and a vase in the form of a tree trunk, rendered with finger citrons, pomegranates and peaches, from the T.Y. Chao family collection, sold in these rooms, 30th November/1st December 2017, lot 362. Further agate animal carvings of related red-white colour scheme include a waterdropper in the shape of a crane, from the collection of Heber R. Bishop and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no. 02.18.876a,b; and a figure of a water buffalo with a small chimera seated on its back, sold in our New York rooms, 27th February 1981, lot 345.