A very rare jade kneeling figure, Han dynasty | 漢　跪坐玉人

Splendor Jade Collection of the Han Dynasty, Taipei, 2025, no. 40.

Exquisitely modelled in the round, this captivating white jade figure exemplifies the heightened naturalism and emotional depth achieved by lapidary artists during the Han dynasty. The figure is depicted kneeling with hands raised in a dynamic gesture of reverence or offering, a distinct posture that sets it apart from more common clasped-hand types. The artisan has paid careful attention to the flowing drapery of the robes, indicated by elegant, sweeping incisions along the sleeves, and the distinct headdress or tied hair trailing gracefully down the back. The translucent white stone is suffused with rich russet and brown calcifications, a testament to its great antiquity and prolonged burial, which further enhances the sculpture's mysterious aura.

While sharing a conceptual lineage with the highly abstracted 'Han Eight Cut' or Hanbadao design figures, the present lot demonstrates a sophisticated three-dimensionality that transcends mere geometric abstraction. Small jade figures of this calibre were highly prised and typically placed in elite tombs to serve or protect the deceased. The use of jade, a material believed in Han cosmology to possess protective and immortal properties, imbued these figures with profound spiritual significance.

Compare with the famous bearded man with hands resting on a low table excavated from the tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan (d. 113 BCE), in Mancheng, Hebei, illustrated in Gu Fang, ed., The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 1: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Beijing, 2005, pl. 186, inscribed to the base with a blessing of longevity. Liu Sheng’s tomb – notable for its exceptional finds across every medium – features a handful of other naturalistic carvings in the round and appears to be the closest point of comparison to the present figure in terms of its exceptionally well-observed rendering of facial features and posture. Compare also the extraordinary naturalism of a kneeling stone figure excavated from the Mancheng tomb discussed in Wu Hung, ‘The Prince of Jade Revisited: The Material Symbolism of Jade as Observed in Mancheng Tombs’, Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia, no. 18: Chinese Jades, London, 1998, p. 157, pl. 6.

For further related examples, see a group of small jade kneeling figures excavated from the tomb of the King of Nanyue (175–124 BCE), now in the Museum of the Western Han Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou, illustrated in Gu Fang, op. cit., vol. 11, pl. 117; a small Western Han kneeling figure, drilled as a bead, in the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge (accession no. 1943.50.331), illustrated in Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1975, cat. no. 547; and another miniature kneeling figure from the Chan-chi-hsüan Collection, included in the Collectors' Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades, Palace Museum, Taipei, 1995, cat. no. 73. For a closely related example from private hands, see a jade figure of a male dancer, Eastern Han dynasty, formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 5 April 2016, lot 35.

出版

《漢家琳琅》，台北，2025年，編號40

此件白玉跪人圓雕而成，精妙入微，充分展現了漢代玉雕匠人在寫實性與情感表達上的極高造詣。玉人呈跪坐姿，雙手舉於胸前，似作虔誠供奉或祈求之態，生動傳神，有別於常見的雙手交握造型。匠人以流暢的陰線刻劃出寬大袖袍的褶皺，並細膩表現了向後垂順的髮髻或頭飾。溫潤的透光白玉質地中帶有豐富的鐵鏽紅及褐色沁斑，印證了其悠久的埋藏歷史，更添高古神秘之感。

儘管在概念上與高度抽象的「漢八刀」翁仲同源，本品卻展現出成熟的立體圓雕技法，超越了純粹的幾何形態。此類精美的微型玉人極為珍罕，多作為「明器」隨葬於高等級貴族墓葬中。在漢代宇宙觀中，玉被認為具有辟邪防腐、引導羽化登仙的神奇力量，使得這些玉人具備了深厚的精神意涵。

比較河北滿城中山靖王劉勝（卒於西元前113年）墓出土之著名玉雕長鬚漢，雙手撫於几上，底刻長壽銘文，錄於古方編，《中國出土玉器全集: 卷1：北京、天津、河北，北京》，2005年，圖版186。劉勝墓出土各類材質之文物皆極為精絕，其中包括數件寫實的圓雕作品，就面部特徵與姿態的精準刻劃而言，與本品最為接近。另可比較同為滿城漢墓出土的一件極具寫實風格的石雕跪人，見巫鴻，〈The Prince of Jade Revisited: The Material Symbolism of Jade as Observed in Mancheng Tombs〉，《Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia, no. 18: Chinese Jades》，倫敦，1998年，頁157，圖版6。

其他相關例子，可參考一組出土於南越王（西元前175–124年）墓的小型玉跪人，現藏廣州南越王博物院，收錄於古方，前述出處，卷11，圖版117；劍橋哈佛藝術博物館藏一例西漢玉跪人（藏品編號：1943.50.331），中心鑽孔作珠形，錄於羅樾與 Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber，《Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University》，劍橋，1975年，編號547；以及暫集軒珍藏一例微型玉跪人，展出於《羣玉別藏》，故宮博物院，台北，1995年，編號73。私人收藏中，另可參考一件極為重要的東漢玉雕說唱舞人，為思源堂舊藏，售於香港邦瀚斯2016年4月5日，編號35。