AN OUTSTANDING AND EXTREMELY RARE CELADON JADE FIGURE OF AN ELEPHANT, HAN DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

Published: Jean-Paul Desroches (ed.) et al, The Beginning of the World. Dragons, Phoenix and Other Chimera, Fondation Baur, Geneva, 2020, p. 46, no. 23.

Exhibited:
1. Fondation Baur, The Beginning of the World – According to the Chinese. Dragons, Phoenix and Other Chimera, Geneva, 11 November 2020-23 May 2021.
2. Musée Départemental des Arts Asiatiques, The Beginning of the World – According to the Chinese. Dragons, Phoenix and Other Chimera, Nice, Summer 2021.

China, 2nd century BC-1st century AD. Skillfully worked in the round as an elephant standing foursquare on its short legs with its long trunk curled to its left and its tail swished to its right, the animal depicted with characteristic dorsal bumps flanked by floppy ears, the corpulent body rendered gravitating towards the ground and delicately detailed with incisions to depict folds of wrinkles. The semi-translucent stone of a celadon tone with russet and cloudy inclusions.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear, areas of calcification, tiny encrustations, few microscopic nibbles.

Weight: 177 g
Dimensions: Length 7.1 cm

During the Shang Dynasty, the Central Plain of China enjoyed a warm and humid climate and provided a suitable habitat for elephants. The archaeological ruins of Anyang, one of the Shang capitals, yielded large amounts of ivory and elephant bones, indicating that the Shang nobility sacrificed elephants in their rituals. The Lüshi Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Lü) records the Shang people’s taming of elephants, 'The Shang people trained elephants, which they used to oppress the Eastern Yi people. The Duke of Zhou consequently chased them with his armies to the Jiangnan region.' The Tomb of Fu Hao yielded two jade elephants carved in the round, measuring 6-6.5 cm in length and 3-3.3cm in height, with upward-curling noses, slightly open mouths, eyes in the form of the chen character, ears close to the shoulders, and incised throughout with double lines. See Zhongguo gu qingtongqi xuan (A Selection of Ancient Chinese Bronzes), Beijing, 1976, pl. 91.

Han dynasty jade elephants carved in the round have yet to be found archaeologically, but some Han dynasty gilt-bronze elephants are extant, including four excavated in an Eastern Han burial site at Lijiacun, Koudian, Yanshi, Henan. See Nanjing Museum and Xuyi Cultural and Media Bureau, Jiangsu Xuyiai xian Dayunshan Xihan Jiangdu wangling yihao mu (Royal Mausoleum No. 1 of the Vassal King of Jiangdu State of the Western Han dynasty), Kaogu/Archaeology, Beijing, vol. 10, 2013, p. 36, fig. 57:1. Another relevant example is a gilt-bronze elephant recently excavated from the tomb of Liu Fei, Prince of Jiangdu of the Western Han Dynasty (and a stepbrother of Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han), Dayunshan, Xuyi, Jiangsu. Measuring 30.5 cm in length and 20 cm in height, this carving is depicted with large round eyes, ears pulled back, a long backward-curling nose and a tail that hangs towards the left.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related jade figure of an elephant, dated to the Han dynasty, in the British Museum, registration number 2022,3034.255.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2017, lot 3305
Estimate: HKD 7,300,000 or approx. EUR 920,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An outstanding and extremely rare celadon jade figure of an elephant, Western Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, stone, manner of carving, and incised details. Note the related size (8.4 cm).