A MAGNIFICENT AND LARGE GREEN JADE MYTHICAL BEASTQing DynastyThe imposing animal carved recumbent with large bulbous eyes beneath bushy brows, a wide mischievous grin revealing fangs, the accentuated spine terminating with the large bushy tail sweeping across its left haunch, its paws neatly tucked beneath the large body, the stone of mottled dark olive-green tone with russet veins. 32cm (12 1/2in) long; 8550g. Footnotes:清 青玉瑞獸Provenance: Milly von Friedländer-Fuld (1866-1943), Berlin (this lot is sold with the permission of the heirs of Milly von Friedländer-Fuld)Auktion Van Marle & Bignell, The Hague, 20-25 October 1941, lot 1384Kunsthandel v.Veen, AmsterdamSpink and Son Ltd., LondonBluett and Sons Ltd., London, 15 November 1984A British private collection, and thence by descentPublished, Illustrated and Exhibited: Chinesische Kunst, Berlin, 1929, p.394, no.1086Somerset House, 1979來源： Milly von Friedländer-Fuld (1866-1943)舊藏，柏林(該拍品經 Milly von Friedländer-Fuld 繼承人許可出售)Auktion Van Marle & Bignell，海牙，1941年10月20-25日，拍品編號1384Kunsthandel v.Veen，阿姆斯特丹倫敦古董商Spink and Son, Ltd.倫敦古董商Bluett and Sons Ltd.，1984年11月15日英國私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今展覽著錄：《中國藝術》，柏林，1929年，第394頁，編號1086Somerset House, 1979年Milly Antonie von Friedländer-Fuld was born in the Netherlands in 1866, the daughter of the banker Elias Jacob Fuld and his wife Lina. Her father, a native of Frankfurt, ran the Amsterdam bank Becker & Fuld together with Carl Becker, which maintained close ties with the Rothschild Bank in Frankfurt. According to a list from 1913, the family was one of the wealthiest families in Germany. The family's town house on Pariser Platz was furnished in a manner befitting its status and contained a constantly growing art collection, which was later to include paintings by van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin, but also by French Impressionists such as Manet and Monet, which belonged to her daughter Marie-Anne von Goldschmidt-Rothschild. Milly's husband, Fritz von Friedländer-Fuld was known for his collection of gold and silver objects, such as rare boxes, nécessaires, flacons and watches, parts of which he had exhibited in Berlin in 1906. The present lot was loaned by Milly von Friedländer-Fuld and exhibited in the seminal Chinesische Kunst exhibition of 1929 in Berlin. This exhibition was amongst the first major exhibitions of Chinese art in Europe. It included 1270 works of art, on loan from some of the greatest museums such as the Asian Art Museum in Berlin, the Louvre and Guimet in Paris, the Rijksmsueum in Amsterdam, the National Museum in Stockholm, as well from some of the leading collectors and dealers such Adoplhe Stoclet, George Eumorfopoulos and C.T. Loo, to name a few. After her husband's death in 1917, Milly Antonie von Friedländer-Fuld initially moved to the Netherlands and France. However, the palace and its inventory remained in the family and was used by her as well as her daughter Marie-Anne von Goldschmidt-Rothschild and her family, who still resided there in June 1938. Following Hitler's rise to power, the palace was forcibly sold to Albert Speer, on behalf of the German Reich, and much of the family's property was seized. In August 1939 ten trucks left Berlin with inventory and art objects to Amsterdam for storage at De Gruyter & Co. - likely also including the present lot. These were later seized as well and similarly to the fate of the objects in Palais Friedländer in Berlin, were sold at auction between 1941 and 1942. After the occupation of the Netherlands by the Germans, Milly Antonie von Friedländer-Fuld fled to France, and died in Cannes in 1943. The jade mythical beast which was sold in The Hague at Marle & Bignell in October 1941 to a Dutch dealer, made its way to the UK and sold through London dealers Spink & Son and Bluett's & Sons to a British collector. It is now sold with the agreement of the British collector's family and the heirs of Milly Antonie von Friedländer-Fuld.The present lot is remarkable for its extremely large size (32cm long) and weight (8.55kg) and anthropomorphic face. Large jade animal carvings include both animals and mythical beasts; the former such as water buffaloes, horses and elephants and the latter, mythical creatures such as Buddhist lions, qilin and luduan. See for example S.C.Nott, Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, London, 1975, pls.241, 391, 392, 394, 395 and 397. See also a pale green and russet jade carving of a bixie, Ming dynasty, with closely related humanoid face, which was sold at Bonhams London, 17 May 2012, lot 25.It is extremely rare to find animals and beasts of such striking size, and although widely published and much admired, exceptionally large jade animals such as the present lot, in fact, form a very select and unusual group within the tradition of Chinese jade carving. Usually carved with great sensitivity and naturalness, such pieces have been traditionally dated to the late Ming to early Qing period, based upon a number of factors: the similar mid-green or occasionally greyish colour of the pieces suggest that they were sourced before the quelling of Xinjiang in 1759 gave access to fine and large raw jades sent in as tribute from the new vassal region. See a large jade figure of a horse, late Ming/early Qing dynasty, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl.26:20, and also a large jade buffalo, late Ming or Qing dynasty, illustrated in Ibid, pl.26:19.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
