April 13, 2022 10:00 EST
Asian Arts
79
A Chinese brown and beige jade carving of a Baku 玉雕貘
Ming dynasty or earlier 明或更早
Carved in a recumbent posture, depicting the unusual single horned mythical creature Baku ”貘“ with round bulging eyes, a lively elephant trunk, and leaf-like elephant ears, with a sinuous long tail extended to its strongly ridged back, the four legs tipped by sharp paws, surface finely polished, retaining traces of cinnabar in the recesses. Cloth box.
L: 2 3/4 in.
PROVENANCE:
Ashkenazie & Co., San Francisco, California
Property from a private collection, Bethesda, MD, acquired from the above, August 16, 1988, (as Han period)
Sold for $12,600
Estimated at $4,000 - $6,000
Carved in a recumbent posture, depicting the unusual single horned mythical creature Baku ”貘“ with round bulging eyes, a lively elephant trunk, and leaf-like elephant ears, with a sinuous long tail extended to its strongly ridged back, the four legs tipped by sharp paws, surface finely polished, retaining traces of cinnabar in the recesses. Cloth box.
PROVENANCE:
Ashkenazie & Co., San Francisco, California
Property from a private collection, Bethesda, MD, acquired from the above, August 16, 1988, (as Han period)
The present piece, finely carved and sensitively modeled, is an extremely rare Chinese rendition of a mythical creature which, according to early Japanese sources, was a rarely seen beast from Chinese folklore which protected against pestilence and evil fortune, and in later Japanese folklore, "eats" nightmares.
