LATE SHANG DYNASTY, CIRCA 1300-1000 BC

While animal carvings in the round are known from the Shang dynasty, no other example has been found with the same facial features as the present carving. However, the style of carving compares well with examples discovered at the Fu Hao tomb, such as a jade buffalo (11 cm. long) similarly carved with the head turned back, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji-2-Shang, Zhou, Hebei, 1993, no. 73 (fig. 1). Compare also to a small jade carving of a tiger (5.8 cm. long) from the Yangdetang Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, Chinese Archaic Jades from The Yangdetang Collection, 29 November 2017, lot 2725, which is also carved with raised relief on the body.