A WHITE AND RUSSET JADE MYTHICAL BEASTSong DynastyThe double-horned recumbent beast resting on four paws with its head turned to the left, detailed with a broad snout, bulging eyes, stylised eyebrows and a pair of large ears, its spine extending to a bifurcated tail curled along its haunch, the softly polished stone with patches of russet skin, box.7.8cm (3 1/8in) long (2).Provenance: 宋 白玉帶皮雕瑞獸The present mythical beast can be identified as abixie from its double-horn and clawed paws. Thebixie, 'averter of evil', a lion-like mythical beast with claws (in contrast to theqilin which has hooves), appears in Chinese art as early as the Han dynasty, both in monumental stone sculpture and in small jade carvings, for further discussions, see ford,Chinese Carved Jades, London, 1968, p.87.See a related example of a Song dynasty jade mythical beast from the Yidetang collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 6 October 2015, lot 12. See also a jade mythical beast, Song/Yuan dynasty, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 4 October 2016, lot 28.《漢書·西域傳》孟康注曰：「桃拔一名符拔，似鹿，長尾，一角者或為天祿，兩角者或為辟邪。」此瑞獸頭部帶兩角，長尾，或為辟邪。辟邪是想像中的神話動物，是人們希望藉助它的法力，來避除邪惡。辟邪於漢代的時候已出現，多為帶翼的四足獸，其造形可能傳自西亞。常以巨石雕刻，立於陵墓前。也以玉雕琢成，作為高貴的陳設器，參閱ord，《Chinese Carved Jades》，倫敦，1968年，頁87。參考藝德堂舊藏一件玉甪端，售於香港佳士得，2015年10月6日，拍品12。另對比一件宋或元時期之玉雕瑞獸，售於香港佳士得，2016年10月4日，拍品28。