China, 25-220 AD. Finely carved as a seated bear scratching his ear with his left paw, the head lowered and framed by fur hair, the fleshy body finely incised with V-shaped lines suggesting fur, and the paws with claws. The mostly translucent stone is of an even celadon tone with cloudy white and russet inclusions, as well as cream-colored weathering marks.

Provenance: From the Sam and Myrna Myers Collection. Sam and Myrna are first generation Americans, who shared a taste for collecting beautiful objects of art. On a trip to Ascona, Switzerland, the couple stumbled into a small antique shop which started their journey of collecting antiques. When Sam Myers was sent to Paris by his law firm in the mid-1960s, he and his wife Myrna became so enamored with the city that they decided to make it their home. There, over the course of 50 years, they built an extraordinary art collection, and in 1976, Myrna opened a gallery in Paris specializing in Asian art. Their collection spans a wide range of precious objects from Chinese jades, ceramics, textiles, Indian ivory carvings, to Japanese clothing and lacquer, some of which was exhibited in the Kimbell Art Museum. Part of their collection was sold at Sotheby’s, London ‘Two Americans in Paris, The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers’, on 4 November 2021. The couple also worked together with jade expert Filippo Salviati to create one of the most outstanding jade collections globally and authored several books on jade, including ‘Radiant Stones’ (2000), ‘The Language of Adornment’ (2002) and ‘Genèse de l’empire céleste’ (2020).
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, signs of weathering and erosion, and minor nibbling. The stone with natural fissures.

Weight: 132.7 g
Dimensions: Height 5.5 cm

Bears were depicted in Chinese art at least as early as the Shang dynasty and have been a popular totemic emblem since ancient times. From the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) onwards, and probably even much earlier, bears have also been linked with military prowess, shamanism, and immortality. It might be noted that the words for 'bear' and 'virility' are exact homonyms, pronounced in Chinese as ‘xiong’.

Literature comparison:
The subject of a seated bear scratching his ear was quite popular in the Han dynasty and was created in different materials, including rock crystals and gilt bronze amongst others. Compare two rock crystal bears, dated to the Han dynasty, sold at Bonhams Los Angeles, 14 December 2020, lot 419. Also compare a gilt-bronze figure of a bear, dated to the Western Han dynasty, sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2015, lot 1.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Galerie Zacke Vienna, 15 October 2021, lot 77
Price: EUR 27,808 or approx. EUR 31,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pale celadon jade figure of a bear, Eastern Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the seated pose with lowered head and the related color of the jade. Note the smaller size (4.4 cm).