J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
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21.
A JADE FIGURE OF AN ELEPHANT
Shang Dynasty, 12th – 11th Century B.C.
carved as a free-standing sculpture with thick flattened body, the large head drilled through with a biconical hole for the eyes and carved with wide flat ears in very shallow relief, standing on conjoined short legs, the feet divided by grooves across the base, the broad smooth flanks rising to a rounded backbone which continues down to a large angular tail, the short trunk curled up above a ‘V’-shaped mouth, the cloudy opaque stone of pale greenish-white tone, the softly polished surface showing remains of encrusted earth.
Length 2 7⁄8 inches (7.3 cm)
Compare the small jade figure of an elephant unearthed from tomb 1728 at the Shang dynasty royal cemetery site in Xibeigang, Henan province, illustrated by Lee (ed.) in Yinxu chutu qiwu xuancui (Selected Works Unearthed from Yinxu), Taipei, 2009, p. 216, no. 201; and the larger jade elephant of very similar form unearthed from tomb 1567 at the same royal cemetery, illustrated by Lee (ed.), op. cit., pp. 196-197, no. 175.
Compare also the jade figure of an elephant simply carved as a small free-standing silhouette in the collection of the Tianjin City Art Museum illustrated in Tianjin shi yishu bowuguan cang yu (Jades from the Tianjin City Art Museum), Hong Kong, 1993, no. 51.
商 玉象 長 7.3 厘米
21.
A JADE FIGURE OF AN ELEPHANT
Shang Dynasty, 12th – 11th Century B.C.
Length 2 7⁄8 inches (7.3 cm)