AN EXCEPTIONAL AND RARE WHITE AND RUSSET JADE 'MYTHICAL BEAST' CARVING , QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

AN EXCEPTIONAL AND RARE WHITE AND RUSSET JADE 'MYTHICAL BEAST' CARVING

QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

清乾隆 白玉雕瑞獸擺件 《子岡》仿款

brilliantly carved following the natural form of the pebble, the pair of recumbent mythical beasts arranged head to tail, one grasping a lingzhi sprig in its mouth, its head rendered in an archaistic style with a broad snout, lozenge-shaped eyes, and long curled brows, the other beast with a blanket finely incised with rockwork emerging from crashing waves draped across its back, its chest inscribed with an apocryphal two-character Zigang mark in seal script, the delicately polished stone an attractive even tone with areas of russet coloration and occasional faint natural fissures

Length 4⅛ in., 10.4 cm