Provenance: The Art & Antiques Fair, Olympia, London, 1996.

Literature: Christopher Randall, The Brush and The Stone: The Dr. Dean Edell Collection of Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 7 and cover.

Note: This extremely rare jade dragon could function as a brushrest, but in view of its large size and skilfully modelling, bringing out the ferocity and movement of the beast, it is more likely to be a scroll weight. The carving also extends to the underside, differentiating it from complex jade carvings inset into screens. No other comparable example appears to be published in any museum or private collection. However, the treatment of the dragon closely relates to that found on vases in the Palace Museum, Beijing. Compare the skilfully rendered sinuous body and long coiling tails on the chilong depicted clambering around a white jade vase of fanghu form, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol. 6, Shijiazhuang, 1991, pl. 226. 

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016