Han Dynasty Antlered Bixie (206 BC to 24 AD)

Description

Striding and sinuous, this Han Dynasty bixie stands proud or striding forward depending on which side you are viewing. Carved in the round from a single nephrite pebble in three dimensions; she has furled wings, two horns and a snarling visage. She is alert and protective with bulbous eyes and a coiled, bifurcated tail. Her head sits back from her bulging chest, mouth and teeth bared.

Cultural Significance

It is important to discuss some anthropology so as to properly place the piece within its culture. Jade is a spiritual material for the Chinese. It represents eternity as jades can span millennia and thus carry someone through this life; into the next. Jade has held tradable value since its discovery in Xinjiang from the Neolithic period and is referenced in Zhou texts as being gifted in official ceremonies. In an excerpt from a Confucian classic jade is described as follows:

The wise compare their virtue to jade: it stands for goodness (ren) because it is soft and smooth to the touch; it stands for righteousness (yi) as it hangs down from the body but does not injure it; it stands for decorum (li) as it appears to bow down when hanging down from the belt; it stands for music (yue) as it gives off clear and noble sounds which end abruptly; it stands for loyalty (zhong), as its glow neither veils imperfection nor is it veiled by imperfection; it stands for trust (xin), because its good inner qualities can be seen from the outside; it stands for heaven (tian) as it is like a white rainbow; it stands for earth (di) as it embodies the powers innate in mountains and rivers; it stands for virtue (de), as do the gui and shang ritual jades employed at audiences; it stands for the path of virtue (dao) as there in no one on earth who does not esteem it. (reproduced in two Emperors: China's Ancient Origins, pg. 122)

In their original forms, bixie stood as guards over the tombs of royals and high ranking officials and was a mythological creature that was most likely imported from the Indus Valley. In its original inception, these creatures stood guard over their master’s tombs and palaces in regions such as Assyria and Egypt. The wings and horns on Chinese bixie are two features that suggest they were influenced by early Persian art. This is supported by Osvald Siren who pointed out that:

Their wings and horns suggest that they were influenced by early Persian art. Osvald Siren has pointed out that perhaps the sources of the winged felines in Chinese art may be in Mesopotamian art, which came through Babylon and Assyria to Achaemenid Persia and thence by way of Bactria, found its way across Central Asia to China. (Some Observations on Stone Winged Chimeras at Ancient Chinese Tomb Sites, pg. 262).

Stylistic Qualities

Stylistically, this figure dates from the Han Dynasty, with a sinuous ’S’ shaped body; from tail to head and from head to paws. She is striding forward on one side and tense, ready to spring on the other. She has two antlers, not one which places her as androgynous; she features as both a male or a female depending on how she is viewed. Although the lack of a beard would suggest that she was intended to be female. She also has two wings, both furled, ready for flight which is found on most bixie from this period.

Her legs are positioned differently on both sides; strutting on one side and standing further apart on the other. Her stance and type are typical of the Han Period and her facial features are most in common with the Eastern Han Period and would be replicated in generations that followed. For a similar example see a Western Han strutting bixie that was exhibited at the Throckmorton Gallery in 2015. Another example can be seen at the Henan Museum, dating from the Western Han and excavated in 1966 from Xianyang, Shaanxi.

The Han Dynasty was known for having modernised tooling for jade carving by adopting iron tools. It is during this period that we see a wider proliferation of jade ornaments amongst more classes. This is also due to the spindle-wheel that was operated by a foot pedal. Stone carving became much easier and thereby more accessible to a wider audience.

Advancements in lapidary tooling also led to more adventurous carving in the round rather than on a flat surface. As put by Michael Sullivan:

This new technical freedom made the lapidary more adventurous, inspiring him to carve, in three dimensions, figurines and animals, of which perhaps the most beautiful specimen is the famous horse in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. (The Arts of China)

The addition of incised lines into the carved sections of the wings and jowls are also worth noting as seen in many jade pieces from this period. In terms of function, she likely featured as either a handling piece or scroll weight when originally made that will have rested on the desk of a gentleman or scholar:

Jade has by this time begun to lose its ritual significance; it now becomes instead the delight of the scholar and the gentleman, for whom its ancient associations and beauty of colour and texture will become a source of the profoundest intellectual and sensual pleasure. Henceforward he will be able to enjoy his pendants and garment-hooks, his seals and the other playthings on his desk, in the confident knowledge that in them aesthetic and moral beautify are united. (The Arts of China, pg. 84)

Jade Qualities

The jade has been tested as nephrite jade and is of a soft, even white tone with russet inclusions (surface penetration). Depending on light, the jade will alternate between a brilliant white to a softer all, over russet / yellow tone. There are also noticeable inclusions and stress fractures beneath the surface of the jade; due to temperature changes and exposure to moisture over time. This is found in jades from this period and of this age which have spent time underground over variable periods of time. This figure may not have spent as much time as one would expect buried as many jade pieces were handed down from one generation to the next before finding their way underground.

Provenance

This piece was acquired in New Zealand from the private collection of a New Zealand artist who studied for some time in China in the 1990s. 

Bibliography

  1. Liu, Li & Bartlett, Thomas. Edited by Delroy Ann. Two Emperors: China's Ancient Origins. Praxis Exhibitions Australia Pty Ltd (2002)
  2. Sullivan, Michael, The Arts of China, Cardinal (1973).
  3. Morrow, David & Pearlstein, Elinor. Immortal Stone: Jade of the Han Dynasty, Calliope, Vol. 9, No. 2 (1998).
  4. Cook, Constance A. Wealth and the Western Zhou, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 60, No. 2 (1997), pp. 253-294
  5. Till, Barry. Some Observations on Stone Winged Chimeras at Ancient Chinese Tomb Sites, Artibus Asiae Vol. 42, No. 4 (1980).
  6. Henan Museum, Comparative Study, http://english.chnmus.net/sitesources/hnbwy/page_pc/WeeklySelection/StoneBixie/list1.html
  7. Throckmorton Fine Art, The Beauty of Jade Warring States Period and Han Dynasty Jades http://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2015/03/09/31671567.html, 2015.
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