A BLACK AND WHITE JADE CARVING OF A MANDARIN DUCKSong/Yuan DynastySmoothly carved from a stone of black and white, the mandarin duck with pointed beak and incised feathers to the wings and tail, its head gently swayed to its right with legs tucked underneath the body.6cm (2 3/8in) longProvenance: 宋/元 墨白玉雕鴛鴦把件This type of bird carving exhibits an archaic revival style and was likely to be inspired by jade carvings of the Han dynasty; for an example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, seeArt in Quest of Heaven and Truth: Chinese Jades through the Ages, Taipei, 2012, no.3-3-36. For a Song dynasty example,pare the execution of the deftly carved wings on a pale green jade bird, formerly in the Robert H. Ellsworth collection, illustrated by in the catalogue of the exhibitionChinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p.94, pl.78. See also a black and white jade carving of a bird-shaped hat ornament, dated Tang to Yuan dynasty, in the Museum of East Asian Art collection, Bath, illustrated inJades from China, Bath, 1994, p.347, pl.271.宋元雕玉鳥的靈感大多來自西漢晚期至東漢玉鳩，參看臺北故宮博物院藏一件造型帶有動態感的玉鳩杖首，器底腳部與長尾羽毛上的細節處理可資比較，見《Art in Quest of Heaven and Truth: Chinese Jades through the Ages》，台北，2012年，圖版3-3-36。另可參考安思遠舊藏一件宋代青白玉鳥，曾於《Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing》展覽中展出，見J.C.Y. Watt編其圖錄，1980年，頁94，編號78。英國巴斯東亞藝術博物館亦藏有一件墨白玉雕鳥杖首，收錄於《Jades from China》，巴斯，1994年，頁347，圖版271。