Featured Asian Carved Stone Mythical Beast in Glass Box - Who and Stone?

Lovely. Thanks so much for the translation. So this piece I got at a Chinese jade exhibition at a museum in Southern California is a replica of this piece from the Han Dynasty. I didn't know what it was. A lot of the time, museum gift shops have unrelated things to what is exhibited. I was so enthralled by the pieces, that I had to bring something home to hang on the wall.

 

Alabaster was my thought too for the main piece under discussion. The hind legs are very feline. I see a lion or dragon lion, slinkier than the pixiu I saw in a quick google. Like it's jumping down.

 

Bronwen Thanks for weighing in. Alabaster is a distinct possibility, I agree. I have searched and searched, and it has a very distinctive shape. I haven't tried dragon lion yet. Thank you.

 

Chinese Dragon sculptures and Chinese Lion sculptures can be difficult at times to tell them apart, as the two often can be shown in very artistic ways and there are variations of both. What you have looks to me more like a Chinese Lion though, carved from White Jade. White Jade does vary a bit in shade and translucency, especially when it is thinner and combines with a cleaner formation. Jade is not a uniform stone throughout.

The lion symbolises strength, stability and superiority.

 

It looks like serpentine jade. It is a type of serpentine that looks a bit like translucent jade. It is often this pale celadon like colour.

Alabaster is not a very Chinese stone, they prefer jade and the different serpentines and soapstones. There are also the specific Chinese stones like Shoushan stone or Tianhuang stone.

There are sellers in the west who have little knowledge of stones, particularly Chinese ones. They will call some stones alabaster because that is what they are familiar with.

That one is beautiful, Kiko, probably Hetian/Khotan white jade.

 

CPW. Thanks so much for solving the mystery. I have several pairs of Foo Dogs of varying quality of jade but have always wanted other mythical animals like this lion. I am very happy that you think it is jade and that goes to explain the two sided display to show the translucence when placed in direct sun. You have made me very happy.

 

AJ. I was hoping you would chime in. The flashlight I was using to show the translucence has a definite yellow cast being what they call a daylight flashlight. I really need to get a normal one too. That being said I respect your opinion on what stone this is. You have handled some many of these pieces and know your stuff. I didn’t pay much for it as it has a small ding in the frame. As I told CPW I was more interested in the joyful expression of the artist’s work. Knowing the stone was important to where I display it in my home. As to the white jade museum piece I am so pleased you think it is good jade. I have loved looking at it all these years.

 

Kiko, please don't get me wrong, serpentine jade is a good stone and many good pieces are carved from it. It could be called the 'queen of serpentines'.

 

That makes me feel better. This isn’t an especially beautifully carved piece it is more attractive because of the artist’s sense of joy and creativity than the intricacies of the work. I am happy with it and it has joined my permanent collection! Thank you.

 

It's funny that people will call something a name without really being sure. At least put a qualifier in front such as stating it is your opinion, or that to you it looks a certain way. For example, some refer to the dragon/lion sculptures simply as 'divine beasts' when they can't tell the difference.

 

Yes, that is much better. I usually use the term mythical beasts, not exactly the same, but certainly not as definitive as dragon etc.

 

That’s where I learned the term “mythical beast” from. I just thought maybe this one might be a more defined type.

 

'divine beast' is probably more a direct literal translation, but 'mythical beast' is simply the more commonly described 'concept'.

 

CPW. Very interesting. I like to use precise terms, when I think about my few pieces, and if this is what the artists have in their brains, then divine it is. Thank you.

 

I was referring to the white one with the characters --- I was translating from those.

Not sure about the other one, but from the cuts on the stone, I would think pretty new (but don't take my word for it, I may be wrong. Just my personal not-a-jade-expert opinion.)

Love the box though!

 

The text in chinese is:

南京博物院珍宝---汉代玉龙

南京 - Nan Jing
博物院 - museum (bowuyuan)
珍宝 - treasure (zhenbao)
汉代 - Han Dinasty (handai)
玉龙 - jade dragon (yulong)

i.e., "Jade Dragon of the Han Dinasty - Treasure of the Nan Jing Museum"

There is no “ruan" or "yiwu" in the printed text.

 

I should have been clearer in the narrative in my post that the white jade piece was a museum souvenir that I was using to research the new piece.
I appreciate your thoughts on the new piece. I have no clue, whether it is old or new - only that someone put it in this nifty box, so they must have liked it.

 

You're are correct of course. Admittedly, I used google translate for this and was in a hurry. I failed to include the correct breaking points when translating.
Out of curiosity... How do you write 院 in pinyin? Because I know there are several different systems for writing out the characters using english letters.

 

Thank you so much for this translation. It makes perfect sense that way. Your facility with both languages is amazing. I have a hard enough time with one.

 

I appreciate your effort. Another admirable linguist!