A large green and russet jade 'dragon head' ornament, Yuan dynasty | 元 青玉龍首

Collection of Madame Florine Langweil (1861-1958), Paris.

Jade carving in the Yuan dynasty underwent a change, with carvings produced for the patronage of the Emperor, court and officials and thus saw a marked shift away from its burial and ritual association of the past. The present ornament exemplifies the heights of Yuan jade carving. A related but larger jade dragon head ornament, with two deeply drilled depressions on underside and smaller hole through the mane in the National Museum of Asian Art (accession no. S1987.819) is illustrated in Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The Inaugural Gift. Washington, 1987. cat. no. 85.

The Gujin tushu jicheng ('Complete collection of pictures and books of old and modern times') an encyclopaedia compiled during the Qing dynasty, describes five imperial carriages, including the renowned Yu Lu ('Jade Carriage'). This particular carriage, which was decorated in celadon jade, was reserved for the emperor's ceremonial journeys undertaken for sacrificial rites. A woodblock print accompanying this passage (fig. 1) illustrates dragon-head fittings closely related to those adorning the imperial chariot.

For an earlier example of this type of large jade dragon head ornament, see a Tang dynasty dragon-head piece formerly belonging to the Junkunc Collection, similarly executed with a deep rectangular recess at the reverse, illustrated in Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty, New York, 1963, pl. XXXI-2; and another example unearthed in Qujiangchi, Xi'an in 1977, illustrated in Yang Boda, Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jades], vol. 5, Hebei, 2005, pl. 42. Compare also to a closely related Yuan dynasty finial carved from a darker green jade, from the Muwen Tang collection, published in In Pursuit of Antiquities: 40th Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 2001, cat. no. 96.

For an example of a similarly rendered architectural element, see also the carved marble dragon's head excavated from Yuan Shangdu from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Museum, Hohhot, exhibited and published in The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, p. 49, fig. 58.

來源

Florine Langweil（1861-1958年）女士收藏，巴黎

元代玉雕風格以宮廷、帝王及官吏之需求為導向，逐漸脫離過去以隨葬、禮儀祭祀為主的用途，此件玉雕飾件即為元代玉器之精品，體現當時玉雕工藝的極致風範。美國國立亞洲藝術博物館藏一件相關但尺寸稍巨之玉雕龍首飾件，底部有二深鑽孔，龍鬃間有一較小穿孔，見載於《Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The Inaugural Gift》，華盛頓，1987年，圖錄編號85。

清代《古今圖書集成》載《五輅圖考》，圖示帝王御用之五種車輿，其中最為著名者為「玉輅」，此輅以青玉裝飾，專供皇帝祭祀大典出巡之用。書中配有木刻圖版（圖一），所繪龍首裝飾與此飾件形制相近。

同類大型玉雕龍首飾件之早期實例，可參考一唐代玉雕龍首，舊藏於Junkunc珍藏，背面同具深長方形凹槽，見Alfred Salmony著，《Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty》，紐約，1963年，圖版XXXI-2。另見1977年西安市曲江池村出土一唐代玉龍首，著錄於楊伯達，《中國玉器全集》，卷五，河北，2005年，圖版42。另可比對一件元代深色青玉雕龍首頂飾，為沐文堂舊藏，見載於《好古敏求 : 敏求精舍四十週年紀念展》，香港藝術館，香港，2001年，編號96又可參考一件從內蒙古自治區博物館出土之元代上都大理石龍首建築構件，雕刻手法亦極相似，著錄於《The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty》，大都會藝術博物館，紐約，2010年，頁49，圖58。