8 cm. wide (3 1/8 in.)

The present carving of a mythical beast belongs to a small group of exceptionally powerful representations of bixie (chimera), each quite differently carved but retaining the same vigour and ferocity in their crouched, snarling poise. An example in the British Museum is illustrated by J. Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 363-364, no. 26:7. The fine incised lines delineating the hair of the beast in both the British Museum example and the present bixie are characteristic of the Han period. The author also illustrates another bixie found at Xianyang in Shaanxi Province, discovered near Weiling near the tomb of the Han dynasty Emperor Yuandi, p. 364, fig. 1. Compare, also, with an example from the Sze Yuan Tang Collection, sold at Bonham’s Hong Kong, The Sze Yuan Tang Collection of Chinese Jades, 5 April 2016, lot 33. 

Price estimate:
HKD: 10,000-20,000
USD: 1,300-2,600

Auction Result:
HKD:8,430,000