A fine and rare white jade carving of a recumbent hound

18th century

Footnotes

十八世紀 白玉雕臥犬

Provenance:
Sotheby's New York, 18 March 2014, lot 296
A distinguished Asian private collection

來源：
紐約蘇富比，2014年3月18日，拍品編號296
重要亞洲私人收藏

Dogs first appeared in Chinese art during the Han dynasty as pottery models with coiled examples known from as early as the 4th/5th century; however, as emaciated recumbent animals showing the rib-cage and knobbly spine and more typically identifiable as hunting dogs, they first made their appearance during the Tang dynasty both in pottery and in jade. This style continued through the Song and Ming dynasties and into the Qing period. Jade carvings such as the present lot may have been owned by those who wished to be known for their hunting skills, an activity that was associated with rank and status. Compare a related pale green and russet jade crouching hound, Song dynasty, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.366, pl.26:10; and another example of a pale green and russet jade hound but in a sitting posture, Qing dynasty, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware III, Shanghai, 1995, no.86.

The present lot is beautifully carved displaying the prowess of the hunting dog in a resting though alert position demonstrated in the ready to spring haunches and slightly raised ears. In comparison with earlier examples it is larger and its facial features are particularly well defined. Hounds formed part of the Qing Court hunting activities, keen to maintain the Manchu traditions. The importance of the hounds to the Qianlong Emperor is clearly evident from the series of paintings of favourite dogs commissioned from the Jesuit Court painter Giuseppe Castiglione, and in the later ten-leaf album painted by Ignaz Sichelbarth, circa 1745-1758; see two paintings by Castiglione depicting recumbent hounds, illustrated in Lang Shining hua, vol.II, Beijing, 1936, nos.17 and 20; and a ten-leaf album by Sichelbarth, painted after Castiglione, illustrated by E.S.Rawski and J.Rawson, eds., China: The Three Emperors 1662 - 1795, London, 2005, pp.188-189, no.84.

A related but smaller pale green jade carving of a hound, 18th century, was sold in our London Rooms, 13 May 2010, lot 11.

白玉略偏青，玉質純淨光潤。犬臥形，作匍匐狀，兩後肢壓在身下，尾端捲曲，置於身體一邊，前爪上下相疊，頭依於前爪上，姿態慵懶，惹人憐愛。

犬形雕塑最早在漢代陶器上就有出現，然修長身形之獵犬造型始見於唐朝陶器，宋、明之後玉器沿襲。犬形把玩玉件，陳設可供欣賞，於掌間可供把玩，亦作為其主人身份地位及狩獵技能之象徵。宋代玉臥犬之例，見J.Rawson，《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁336，圖版26:10；另見北京故宮博物院藏一件青玉坐犬，著錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：玉器（下）》，上海，1995年，編號86。

滿人入關後，清宮因秋獮行獵之需，於內務府設養狗處，專職飼養。此件臥犬造型及雕工與前朝作品有別，其耳朵、尾巴毛髮及頸部項圈刻畫細緻，其細節部分與郎世寧所作宮廷繪畫中的獵犬極為相似，見北京故宮博物院藏清郎世寧畫十俊犬驀空鵲圖，其中臥犬形態與本品雷同，見《郎世寧畫》，卷二，北京，1936年，編號17及20；十俊犬中有九隻俱繪入艾啟蒙之「十俊犬」冊，現藏於北京故宮博物院，見E.S.Rawski 及J.Rawson，《China: The Three Emperors 1662 – 1795》，倫敦，2005年，頁188-189，編號84。

倫敦邦瀚斯曾售出十八世紀青白玉雕臥犬一例，2010年5月13日，拍品編號11。