Period:Han dynasty Production date:2ndC BC-2ndC AD
Materials:jade
Technique:polished, incised, carved,
Subjects:cat (?)
Dimensions:Height: 3 centimetres Length: 4.70 centimetres
Description:
Coiled feline of white translucent jade with faint brown veins polished to a soft gloss.
IMG
![图片[1]-figure BM-2022-3034.250-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Han dynasty/Jades/120_2.jpg)
![图片[2]-figure BM-2022-3034.250-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Han dynasty/Jades/120_3.jpg)
![图片[3]-figure BM-2022-3034.250-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Han dynasty/Jades/120_1.jpg)
Comments:The tightly coiled animal rests its head on its back with its four legs under the body. It has rounded eyes, ears and a prominent snout. The legs are delineated in detail on the base and its curls up between its hind legs. See James C. Y. Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, The Asia Society, New York, 1980; Rawson 1995, p.360, cat.no.26.4, and Ip Yee 1983, no. 123. This feline coiled around on itself, its elongated head lying across its back, is small and compact. It has round relief eyes and its ears are shown as circular depressions. Its short tail is coiled across its back, and its four paws are folded very flat under its body, the claws indicated by strong incised lines. The piece is a miracle of economy in its depiction of a creature. The stone has a very luminous quality, highlighted by the soft but strong polish. James Watt has compared this carving with a set of gilt bronzes from a Han dynasty tomb. They share the same coiled position and the same rounded form. For this reason the jade, like the gilt bronze, is dated to the Han period. Both are fully rounded with much more attention to form than to surface detail. Indeed both bronzes and the jade rely on suggestion for their effects. Three similar pieces in stone have been excavated from a Western Han tomb in Shaanxi province.
Materials:jade
Technique:polished, incised, carved,
Subjects:cat (?)
Dimensions:Height: 3 centimetres Length: 4.70 centimetres
Description:
Coiled feline of white translucent jade with faint brown veins polished to a soft gloss.
IMG
Comments:The tightly coiled animal rests its head on its back with its four legs under the body. It has rounded eyes, ears and a prominent snout. The legs are delineated in detail on the base and its curls up between its hind legs. See James C. Y. Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, The Asia Society, New York, 1980; Rawson 1995, p.360, cat.no.26.4, and Ip Yee 1983, no. 123. This feline coiled around on itself, its elongated head lying across its back, is small and compact. It has round relief eyes and its ears are shown as circular depressions. Its short tail is coiled across its back, and its four paws are folded very flat under its body, the claws indicated by strong incised lines. The piece is a miracle of economy in its depiction of a creature. The stone has a very luminous quality, highlighted by the soft but strong polish. James Watt has compared this carving with a set of gilt bronzes from a Han dynasty tomb. They share the same coiled position and the same rounded form. For this reason the jade, like the gilt bronze, is dated to the Han period. Both are fully rounded with much more attention to form than to surface detail. Indeed both bronzes and the jade rely on suggestion for their effects. Three similar pieces in stone have been excavated from a Western Han tomb in Shaanxi province.
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![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
