The serpentine dragon cast in mid-stride, its elongated sinewy body raised on four slender limbs, trailed by a long slightly curved tail, the imperious head held high and proud atop a slender S-shaped neck, with a single horn above a long upturned snout, traces of gilding; with later wood stand

PROVENANCE:

S. Bernstein & Co., San Francisco
Property from a private collection, Bethesda, Maryland, acquired from the above, January 31, 1997 (as Six Dynasties)

EXHIBITED:

"Heaven & Earth Exhibition", no. 23 (label)

NOTE:

The present dragon relates to pieces dated from the Six dynasties to the Tang Dynasty. They are notable for their elongated serpentine bodies, long slender legs and tails and head, often with upturned nose. See the dragon from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III, dated to the early sixth century, illustrated in "Art of the Six Dynasties", New York, 1975, p. 61, no. 37, and a more lively example in the collection of the Princeton Art Museum, ibid, p. 62, no. 38. See also the dragons illustrated in Carol Michaelson, "Gilded Dragons, Buried Treasures from China's Golden Ages", London, 1999, where it is suggested that such dragons may have served as dedicatory deposits. See the Tang dynasty striding dragon p. 92, no. 53, and the pair of small (4cm long) gold Tang dynasty examples from a set of twelve discovered in the Hejiacun hoard, Xian in 1970, p. 120, no. 83. Compare also the small dragon dated to the Six Dynasties period, sold at Christie's New York, March 20, 2000, lot 184.