Lot 174

Blue light tested, in very good condition with minor chip to sash falling from books and very minor chip and stress point to bow of sash at top, the rest in very good order


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Leonard Joel makes no guarantee of the originality of mechanical or applied components. Absence of reference to such modifications does not imply that a lot is free from modifications.

Purchased from The Joshua McClelland Print Room, 06/06/1962, by repute originating from Bluett & Sons, London, with a British Antique Dealer's Association label attached

According to the Liji (Book of Rites), Fuxi, a legendary ruler of Ancient China, was observing all under heaven, when he saw a fantastical figure emerge from the river. This creature had the form of a horse, the head of a dragon and the scales of a fish. The markings on its back inspired him to invent the eight trigrams, which led to the invention of writing, here referenced by the books bound to the mythical horse's back. Later writings described the creature as having the essence of heaven and earth, with the form of a horse and the scales of a dragon, such as represented by the present lot, and it was said to appear when a sage ruled the land. The figure is referred to as haima (sea horse).
Naturalistic bases in jade carving, such as waves and rocks were a Ming dynasty innovation, and were later perfected during the Qing dynasty, as can be seen with this figure.
For another mythical horse jade figure, longma please see: Christie's Hong Kong, 28th November 2006, lot 1419; The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 90; Sotheby's, New York, 11 September, 2012, Lot 294; Sotheby's, London, 7 November, 2012, Lot 375; for another example from the Qing dynasty with a similar motif on porcelain, please see: Sotheby's, London, 6 November, 2013, Lot 156