A rare Chinese jade carving of a foreigner and mythical beast 胡人戏兽玉雕 Tang dynasty or later ????

Depicting a bearded foreigner wearing a Phrygian-type cap, patterned hair or cowl-like extension to the cap, and hoop earrings, straddling the beast, as his left hand holds an object at the shoulder, possibly a drinking vessel, he wears a belted robe with long sleeves, his head is turned to the side and his face is well carved with mouth, a prominent nose and well-defined round eyes; a recumbent leonine mythical beast resting between the figure's legs, gazing upwards to the man's face, fan-like tail to its back, the stone of pale brown and grey-white, with attractive translucence, well-polished, with later wood stand

H: 2 1/4 in.

NOTE:

The present figure is quite unusual in the representation of the foreigner depicted with flowing garments and a sense of free movement in space. The majority of jade figures of foreigners tend to be more compact and solid in the execution of form, and with more detail and delicacy of carving. The treatment of the carving of draperies and face appear to relate to the figure of a striding foreigner with long sleeves concealing his hands, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, dated to the Tang dynasty, illustrated in "the Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware", (II), Hong Kong, 1995, p.32, no 29. Compare also the long-sleeved figure playing with a lion, also dated to the Tang Dynasty, originally in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated ibid, p. 33, no. 30.

PROVENANCE:

S. Bernstein & Co., San Francisco

Property from a private collection, Bethesda, MD, acquired from the above March 19, 2004 (As Tang period, circa 10th century)