A black and white jade carving of a water buffalo and a qilin, qianlong, unusually and cleverly formed from a single stone as a white qilin entwined with a black crouching buffalo, wood stand, 3.9cm wideIt is very unusual to see the combination of a buffalo and a mythical beast together, representing both the natural and the mythical animal world. It is recorded in the History of the Song Dynasty that a buffalo gave birth to a qilin, which was soon considered as a symbol of fortune by the emperor. A related example of buffalo and qilin carved in white jade is in the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath: see A. Forsyth and B. McElney, Jades from China, Hong Kong, 1994, no.325. A similar example sold at Bonhams, HK, Lot 2, 27 November 2014.The present lot also makes particularly skilled use of the variations between the black and white areas of the stone. This playful style, frequently used to join two separate elements in one more complex design, can also be seen in three small jade pieces dated respectively to the Qing dynasty, and the 18th/19th century, in the Seattle Museum, illustrated by J.C.Y. Watt, Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Museum, Seattle, 1989, p.87, nos.65a-c.清乾隆 黑白玉双色巧雕牛生麒麟摆件品相报告: very good condition