An exceptionally rare white jade 'Immortal and dragon' group


Song/Yuan DynastyExquisitely carved and pierced in openwork as a male Immortal with a cheerful expression riding atop the back of a dragon, holding on to its horns, the dragon with its head slightly raised, with bulging eyes, whiskers and finely incised beard and mane, the scales well-defined, with clawed legs, the tail curled back on its back, the stone of translucent and even white tone, box. 5.5cm (2 3/16in) long (2).
|宋/元 白玉仙人馭龍把件Provenance:Durwin Tang Collection來源：鄧德雍收藏The subject of a human figure riding atop a mythical creature featuring in jade carving can be seen as early as the Eastern Zhou dynasty; see a jade figure of a man or spirit riding on a mythical beast, 4th centurty BC, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.361, fig.2. See also a figurine of an Immortal riding atop a winged-horse, Western Han dynasty, excavated from the Weiling Mausoleum, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, Xianyang Museum, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China: Shaanxi, Beijing, 2005, p.157; and compare a further jade carving of an Immortal riding on a chimera, Eastern Han dynasty, from the Desmond Gure and Arthur M. Sackler Collections, in the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington D.C., illustrated by G.Tsang, Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong, 1996, no.42.Dragons were described in literature and poetry as mounts and steeds of the Immortals, as exemplified in Tang dynasty poetry, (Quan Tang shi):'When Hsuan-yuan [the Yellow Emperor] departed ...People of old told how these things had been left behind among them.And how his bewitching charmers from the rear palace - so many flowery countenances,Flew, riding simurghs on the mist: they too did not return.Astride dragons, they climbed up to heaven and advanced to the Heavenly Barrier Pass.' Noted by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.330.The present lot is exquisitely carved from an even white jade stone, successfully capturing the sense of movement and speed conveyed through the modelling of the figure and the looped tail of the dragon, as well as the Immortal's exhilaration displayed in his upward looking joyful expression. The virtuosity of the master carver is evident in the refined details from the overlapping scales of the dragon to the very finely incised lines on the edges of the beast's legs.仙人和龍的形象廣見於詩文，李白曾作《飛龍引》二首，其一曰：「登鸞車，侍軒轅。遨遊青天中，其樂不可言。」其二有：「鼎湖流水清且閑，軒轅去時有弓劒。古人傳道留其間，後宮嬋娟多花顏。乘鸞飛煙亦不還，騎龍攀天造天關。」之句。詩意和玉雕創作往往聯繫密切，此件拍品雕琢靈動之態，或可見此詩意。馭獸人物的題材東周已有所見，如一件公元前四世紀之玉雕人物馭獸飾件，見J.Rawson著《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁361，圖2。陝西咸陽渭陵出土一件西漢玉雕人物騎天馬飾件亦資比較，見《中国出土玉器全集》，陝西卷，北京，2005年，頁157；另可比較一件賽克勒舊藏之東漢玉雕羽人騎辟邪飾件，現藏美國華盛頓特區弗利爾及賽克勒美術館，見香港藝術館編，《中國肖生玉雕》，香港，1996年，編號42。