A very rare white jade carving of a phoenix


Song Dynasty or earlierThe mythical bird exquisitely carved in the round seated with the head turned left and downwards, the circular eyes flanking the sharp beak detailed with nostrils, the head with a double crest reaching the closed finely incised well-defined wings decorated around the edges with C and S scrolls, the underside delicately incised with the feet, the stone of white tone with minor russet inclusions, box. 4.5cm (1 3/4in) long (2).
|宋或更早 白玉鳳鳥把件Provenance:Durwin Tang Collection來源：鄧德雍收藏The present lot relates to white jade carvings of birds dating to the Han dynasty, such as the one dated Western Han dynasty, excavated in Xinzhuang village, Weicheng District, Shaanxi Province and now in the Xianyang Museum, illustrated by Gu Fang, The Pictorial Handbook of Ancient Chinese Jades, Beijing, 2007, p.272. Compare also with a related pale green and russet jade archaistic bird, Song dynasty, illustrated by J.C.Y.Watt, Chinese Jades from the Han to the Ch'ing, New York, 1980, no.78. However, the finely incised feet on the present lot may be indicative of an early date.Compare with a closely related white jade carving of a bird, Han dynasty, which was included in the Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collection in Hong Kong, 2004, and which was later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2013, lot 3311.此件拍品的風格可遠追漢代同類作品，如陝西咸陽渭城區出土一件西漢玉鷹，現藏咸陽博物館，見古方著，《中國古玉器圖典》，北京，2007年，頁272。另可比較一件宋代仿古青玉褐沁鳳凰，本品或較早之，見屈志仁著，《Chinese Jades from the Han to the Ch'ing》，紐約，1980年，編號78。2004年香港藝術館曾於《金木水火土 : 香港文物收藏精品展》展出一件漢代白玉臥鳥，其後售於香港蘇富比，2013年10月8日，拍品編號3311。