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AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE ROCK CRYSTAL CARVING OF A DEER, LIAO DYNASTY
奥地利
03月12日 晚上6点 开拍
拍品描述
Published: Myrna Myers (ed.) & Filippo Salviati (auth.), The Language of Adornment. Chinese Ornaments of Jade, Crystal, Amber and Glass, Paris, 2002, no. 84.Expert's note: The artisan who carved this deer skillfully incorporated a natural imperfection in the material to enrich its aesthetic appeal. The homogeneous spinach-green color, caused by natural impurities in the rock crystal, distinguishes and focuses the attention on the head of the animal, making this piece unique among similar works from the Liao period.China, 10th-11th century. Finely carved as a recumbent deer with the legs tucked beneath its body, displaying a lustrous spinach-green hue. The compact form of the animal extending into a short, rounded tail shaped as a double ring, while the slightly raised, translucent head is distinguished by a pointed snout, boldly detailed with oval eyes, small ears, and a schematically rendered set of antlers. A vertical channel pierced through the body suggesting its use as a pendant.Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, natural imperfections, minuscule nicks, surface scratches, a few small chips.Weight: 29.5 gDimensions: Length 5 cmFor the Liao, the deer had special ritual significance. As explained by Tsao Hsingyuan, deer hunting was one of the major seasonal occupations of the Liao, becoming particularly important following changes in ritual practice which occurred around the mid-10th century. Preserved deer meat became an offering presented during ancestor worship in contrast to offerings of fruit and grains, central to the rites of the agricultural society of the Chinese. Deer hunting, the consumption of deer meat, and its use in ancestor worship were acts by which the Liao affirmed their nomadic cultural identity. See: Tsao Hsingyuan, “Deer for the Palace. A reconsideration of the 'Deer in an Autumn Forest' paintings”, in: Hearn K. Maxwell and Judith G. Smith (eds.), Arts of the Sung and Yuan, New York, 1996, p. 194-195.The deer as a decorative theme finds a notable foundation during the Tang period (618-907), when recumbent deer were shown in jade carvings or on metalwork. In this context, the deer was closely associated with the realm of the immortals and considered an auspicious creature. Legends also surrounded the horns of the deer, considered as 'capable of restoring lost youth and virility' and were thus used in the preparation of elixirs intended to attain sexual strength or immortality. Miraculous properties were also ascribed to the velvety antlers of young deer, such as those portrayed in this rock crystal carving and their Tang prototypes. As Schuyler Cammann noted, 'the deer was the only animal able to discover and eat the sacred fungus of immortality and thus attain a great age, which naturally made the deer a symbol of longevity' This belief likely arose from the observations that deer, stags, and elk are particularly fond of the fly agaric mushroom (amanita muscaria), known for its strong hallucinogenic properties. See: Schuyler Cammann, Substance and Symbol in Chinese Toggles, Philadelphia, 1962, p. 67.Literature comparison:Compare a closely related pair of rock crystal carvings of deer with gold inlay, Liao dynasty, dated 10th-11th century, 5.8 cm long, illustrated in: Myrna Myers (ed.) & Filippo Salviati (auth.), The Language of Adornment. Chinese Ornaments of Jade, Crystal, Amber and Glass, Paris, 2002, no. 83. and Jean-Paul Desroches (ed.) et al, Two Americans in Paris: A Quest for Asian Art, Paris, 2016, p. 163, no. 274.

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拍品估价:1,000 - 2,000 欧元 起拍价格:500 欧元  买家佣金:

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