A VERY PALE GREEN JADE 'DRAGON AND TIGER' PLAQUE

[ translate ]

18th/19th century

18th/19th century
Skillfully carved with a writhing dragon flying above a crouching tiger, the reverse with a four-character inscription reading feng yun ji hui, which may be translated as 'Meeting of the wind and clouds', the stone of even pale-white tone, suspended by a chain from a reticulated hongmu stand. The jade 6.7cm (2 5/8in) long. (2).

十八/十九世紀青白玉雕「風雲際會」紋牌

Provenance:
Parry Collection, London, and thence by descent

來源：
倫敦Parry家族收藏，並由後人保存迄今

The visual pairing of dragons and tigers has a long history in China, when it appeared in the first hexagram, qian, from 'The Book of Changes', thought to have been written during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). In the present pendant the clouds trail behind the dragon while the wind follows the tiger. According to the 'Book of Changes', the two creatures are associated with the opposing forces of Daoism, with the tiger representing 'yin' and the dragon denoting 'yang.'

A closely-related pale celadon jade inscribed 'dragon and tiger' plaque, Qing dynasty, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 9 October 2019, lot 124. See also a white jade 'dragon and tiger' plaque, 18th century, but carved in low relief, which was sold at Sotheby's London, 10 May 2017, lot 287.

白玉為材，細膩溫潤，材質規整。額首雕如意云紋，中穿孔可供繫佩。牌身正面雕飾龍虎，《易經·乾卦》九五爻辭有云，「同聲相應，同氣相求... 雲從龍，風從虎。聖人作而萬物睹」。本例以此為具象，正合背面篆書「風雲際會」，大有作為。

參考一例清代青白玉雕風雲際會圖珮，售於香港佳士得，2019年10月9日，拍品編號124。另見一例十八世紀白玉龍吟虎嘯圖牌，以淺浮雕飾龍虎紋，售於倫敦蘇富比，2017年5月10日，拍品編號287。