YUAN-EARLY MING DYNASTY, 14TH-15TH CENTURY

The present ornament is powerfully carved and exceptional in size. It is drilled with two conjoined circular depressions on the underside, suggesting that it was probably mounted on top of a ceremonial post. A very similar example, carved from celadon jade and comparable in size (24.3 cm. long), from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection in the National Museum of Asian Art, accession number: S1987.819 (fig.1).

The Sackler example has retained the long, flowing mane on one end, with an additional smaller hole underneath which the museum believes may have been used for attaching streamers. Another, smaller celadon jade finial (9.1 cm.) in the Shanghai Museum is included in the museum’s digital archive (fig.2).