Bonhams 1793 : A jade 'magpie' finial Ming dynasty

Ming dynasty
Naturalistically worked in the form of a bird depicted with head gently turned left, its feet in a perched position, the body finely worked with both wings tightly bound to the sides and swept upwards, the feathery body conveyed through deftly worked lines, all terminating in a prominent elongated tail, the stone of a pale greenish colour with russet markings.
9cm long.

Sold for HK$ 212,500 inc. premium

Footnotes

Provenance 來源:
Spink & Son Ltd., London, 20 May 1985

The bird finial is one of the most ancient motifs found in prehistoric artifacts, particularly Liangzhu jades. For another later example of a jade finial, but in the form of a dove, see Later Chinese Jades. Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century, San Francisco, 2007, p.260, no.274.

明青玉喜鵲形杖首

青玉玉質，部分帶黃色斑紋。主體呈一喜鵲半蹲，緊收雙翼，頭微偏向一邊，長尾後拖。其頸部絨毛、羽翼及尾部羽毛均作細緻雕刻。底部空心，應為權杖頭部裝飾物。

此器於1985年5月20日得自倫敦Spink & Son公司，雕刻生動，具有典型明代風格。對比三藩市亞洲藝術博物館藏一件明代軟玉鴿形杖首，和一件清青玉喜鵲形飾件，見《Later Chinese Jades, Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century》，三藩市，2007年，頁260，圖版274。

Category: Asian Art

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