A very fine and rare soapstone carving of a recumbent Buddhist lion

18th century

Footnotes

十八世紀 壽山石雕瑞獸書鎮

Provenance:
C. Philip Cardeiro (1930-2014)

來源：
美國收藏家C. Philip Cardeiro (1930-2014)舊藏

The Buddhist lion is superbly carved showing the powerful body of the protective beast, with exceptionally well detailed fur lines and expressive modelling. The rich-honey tone of the stone is well used to show the naturalistic golden hue of the animal. The present lot is very rare as most related carvings adorn the top of a seal rather than carved in the round. Compare the style of present carving to a tianhuang seal, signed Yuxuan, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Small Refined Articles of the Study, Shanghai, 2009, p.257, no.253. Compare also a closely related tianhuang recumbent Buddhist lion, attributed to the School of Yang Yuxuan, 18th century, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in A Garland of Treasures: Masterpieces of Precious Crafts in the Museum Collection, Taipei, 2014, p.138, pl.III-45. See also a similar soapstone Buddhist lion carving, illustrated in The Chinese Scholar's Studio: Artistic Life in the Late Ming Period, New York, 1987, p.115, no.54.

A related tianhuang carving of a recumbent lion, by Yang Ji, signed Yuxuan, 17th century, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 October 2006, lot 916; and a similar soapstone carving of a mythical beast, Kangxi, signed Yuxuan, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 June 2016, lot 3206.

此壽山石雕瑞獸石質偏黃，光澤細膩。其雕刻參圓雕及陰刻技法，刀法嫻熟，刻畫生動，表現細膩，特別是獸首、前爪以及毛髮的雕刻極為精工，其雕刻水平非普通匠人所能及。壽山石雕瑞獸多見於印璽，而此類書鎮或把玩件則較為少見，北京故宮博物院藏一件田黃印章，其獸鈕風格與本拍品類似，見《故宮博物院藏珍品大系：文玩》，上海，2009年，頁257，編號253。

台北國立故宮博物院藏一件清十八世紀田黃石瑞獸書鎮，為楊玉璇門派所作，其雕刻風格做資比較，見《集瓊藻：院藏珍玩精華展》，台北，2014年，頁138，圖III-45；另見一例壽山石雕瑞獸，著錄於《Chinese Scholar's Studio: Artistic Life in the Late Ming Period》，紐約，1987年，頁115，編號54；香港蘇富比曾售出一件田黃石雕臥獅擺件，刻「玉璇」款，2006年10月7日，拍品編號916；香港蘇富比亦曾售出相似一例，2016年6月1日，拍品編號3206。