A pale celadon jade carving of a mythical beast (Bixie), Six Dynasties

Collection of Cheng Te-k'un (1908-2001), by 1973.

Bluett & Sons Ltd., London.

Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1975, cat. no. 179.

Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, Asia Society, New York, 1980, cat. no. 13.

Chinese Jades from the Mu-Fei Collection, Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, 1990, cat. no. 30.

Jessica Rawson and John Ayers, 'Chinese Jades throughout the Ages', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 40, London, 1973, no. 179,

Surviving examples of jade bixie crouched with their heads raised proudly appear to be even rarer than their striding counterparts and exude a unique sense of regal and imperial might, apparently beloved by later imperial courts. Compare a closely related bixie, or perhaps an archaistic carving in the present style, preserved in the imperial collection of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723-1735) and illustrated among his prized possessions in the Guwan tu (Pictures of Ancient Playthings) scroll preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. E.59-1911) (Fig. 1), and another bixie from the Qing Court Collection preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei in Masterworks of Chinese Jade in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1970, pl. 20, closely resembling the present in its raised head and crouched form.

Other bixie of related design include a winged example of closely related coloration in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington (accession no. S1987.798), included in Magic, Myths, and Minerals: Chinese Jades from the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, 2003; and another from the Desmond Gure Collection inscribed with the auspicious characters jixiang in Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty, New York, 1963, pl. XLII-2.

Two further bixie, uncovered from the Western Han Weiling mausoleum in Xianyang, Shaanxi province and illustrated in Gu Fang, The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 14: Shaanxi, Beijing, 2005, pp 163 and 164, are particularly notable in this instance for their varied stances: one closely resembling the present lot in its upright posture, arched back and drooping beard; and the other more closely following the following lot’s design in its crouching posture and russet splashes across its back. While little is known recorded as to the origins of the two present carvings before their acquisition by Professor Cheng Te-k'un (1908-2001) in the mid-20th century, their closely related carving style, coloration and surface finish may indicate that these too were once produced as a pair to the orders of an ancient patron.