A PALE GREEN AND RUSSET JADE 'CAMEL' BRUSHRESTTang/Song DynastySkilfully worked in the form of a recumbent camel turning its head to rest on its back, the hump detailed with incisions, the brilliantly polished stone of a celadon-white colour accentuated with variegated russet patches.12.8cm (5in) longProvenance: 唐/宋 青白玉雕駱駝筆擱Jade carvings of this type were often found on scholars' desks, where they served both as paperweights or brushrests and as works of art in their own right. The posture of this camel, with its legs folded beneath the body and exaggerated turn of the head, is often found in Song animal sculptures. This style appears to derive from Tang coiled animals which were in turn inspired by the severely coiled feline of the Han period. Related examples attributed to the Tang dynasty or later including one in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection, illustrated inChinese Jades, London, 2004, p.71, pl.74. See also a Tang dynasty camel with a similar recumbent posture as the present lot from the Avery Brundage Collection and now in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated inChinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p.61, pl.39.青白玉帶褐斑，圓雕駱駝，四肢伏臥腹下，長頸捲曲倚於背上，線刻毛髮，足蹄清晰可辨。駱駝臥地曲項為宋朝玉雕動物常見之造型，繼承了前朝遺風，漢、唐均有所作。尤其腹下之腿及蹄部雕琢，正是漢朝始作之風格。宋朝肖生玉雕，工匠因材施藝，運用玉材天然色澤紋理，尤其巧作頭尾部分，使之更為生動逼真。器形別緻既可於文人書案上用於鎮紙擱筆，亦可玩賞。倫敦維多利亞和艾伯特博物館藏一件唐或更晚玉雕駱駝可資參考，見《Chinese Jades》，倫敦，2004年，頁71，圖版74。另可比對一件唐代玉雕駱駝，Avery Brundage舊藏，現藏舊金山亞洲藝術博物館，錄於《Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing》，紐約，1980年，頁61，圖版39。