A very rare rock crystal carving of a Buddhist lion


Yuan/Ming DynastyDeftly carved with the beast in recumbent coiled posture, its head turned to the side with bulging eyes framed by bushy eyebrows and a ruyi-shaped snout, the mouth slightly open exposing a row of teeth flanked by fangs, the mane finely carved and incised falling in cascading curls along the neck and shoulders, with a ridged spine leading to the long bushy and finely incised tail, the translucent stone with natural inclusions, the underside unadorned and showing wear due to use, box. 7.6cm (3in) wide (2).
|元/明 水晶雕臥獅Provenance:Christie's South Kensington, London, 23 February 2006, lot 2492Durwin Tang Collection來源：佳士得南肯辛頓，倫敦，2006年2月23日，拍品編號2492鄧德雍收藏Rock crystal animal carvings such as the present lot were most likely used as scroll-weights for the scholar's desk. See a related rock crystal carving of a recumbent deer, Ming dynasty, excavated from the tomb of Prince Lu of the Ming dynasty, now in the Shandong Museum, illustrated in zhongguo wenwu jinghua dacidian: jinyin yushi juan, Shanghai, 2005, p.75, no.225.此類水晶雕瑞獸多作鎮紙用，如山東鄒縣明代魯王朱檀墓出土的水晶獨角獸及水晶臥鹿，見《中國文物精華大辭典：金銀玉石卷》，上海，2005年，頁75，編號225。