18TH-19TH CENTURY

According to Buddhist legend, the makara was originally a whale that saved the lives of five hundred drowning merchants at sea, and then sacrificed itself by providing its own body for food to feed the victims. Because of its compassion and sacrifice, both important virtues in Buddhist philosophy, the whale was then immortalised and transformed into a makara, characterised by the head of a dragon, the body of a whale with wings and a pearl by its side. A similar white and russet jade markara from the Hartman Collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1425.