Footnotes

• 明十六/十七世紀 青白玉帶皮雕臥犬
  
  Provenance 來源:
  Somerset de Chair (1911-1995)
  
  This charming beast is a delightful piece, playfully carved with upturned lingzhi-shaped snout, heavy brows and thickly curling ears. In the treatment of these features it can be related to a white jade carving of a 'fabulous animal' illustrated in the exhibition organised by Bluett & Sons, Ltd., Dr Newton's Zoo, London, 1981, p.29, col.pl.IV, no.19. Similarly detailed animals are noted as including an animal and cub illustrated in Dr Newton's Zoo, op.cit, p.18, no.20, and a group of puppies from the Cunliffe and Garner Collections, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, museum number FE.25-1983, and exhibited and published Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, London, 1975, no.247.
  
  Although there are suggestions that some of these pieces may be from the Song dynasty, the stone and carving of the present lot suggest that a date in the late Ming dynasty is more appropriate.
  
  青白玉色，有白、褐斑，犬身臥伏於地，頭部低垂至地面。雙目炯炯，如意形鼻，雙耳貼於後腦。背部高高弓起，長尾向右捲起，曲線優美，表情生動可愛。
  
  玉匠借用玉質天然皮色巧雕靈芝形鼻子，濃眉和濃密捲翹的耳朵，小巧玲瓏，形象生動，頗有文人雅趣。類似的雕刻手法可參考一件被形容為「絕美至極」的白玉雕動物臥像，著錄在Bluett & Son Ltd.舉辦的展覽，《Dr Newton's Zoo》，倫敦，1981年，頁29，圖版IV，編號19。其他相關例子可參考同上，頁18，編號20；也見Cunliffe勛爵舊藏、現藏於維多利亞阿爾伯特博物館的玉雕小狗，博物館編號FE.25-1983，亦曾出版在1975年倫敦出版《Chinese Jades Throughout the Ages》的展覽圖錄上，編號247。
  
  此類風格之玉雕動物通常被人們定位宋代時期作品，但此件玉雕臥犬的玉石質及雕工更似晚明風格。