Carved Stone Dragon | Chinese Style | Integral Footed Base
A dragon caught mid-stride, its arched body rising clear of the stone beneath.
In Chinese art, dragons are often associated with water, rain, power and good fortune. Their long, sinuous bodies, maned heads and clawed feet set them apart from many European dragons. Small carvings like this one bring the creature down to the scale of a desk or a cabinet shelf.
The dragon and its base are carved from a single piece of pale grey-cream stone with darker flecks, translucent at the thinner edges. The long, sinuous body arches clear of the base, with a ridge of spines along the back and finely incised scales. The head is turned forward under a swept-back mane, and the tail rises in a pierced loop to a fanned tip. One front foot rests on a round, ribbed ball, and the feet stand on carved scroll-like forms. The base is a rectangular plinth with a stepped edge and two bracket feet beneath.
The carving is in good condition, with chips to the tail and a more noticeable chip at the mouth, as shown in the photographs.
Key Details
- Maker: unidentified; unmarked
- Form: dragon on an integral footed plinth, carved from one piece
- Material: carved stone
- Dimensions: length 9.3 cm; width 3 cm; height 6.3 cm
- Weight: 142 g
- Condition: good; chips to the tail and a more noticeable chip at the mouth
- Buyer profile: collector of small stone carvings; someone building a cabinet of curiosities; buyer drawn to Chinese-style decorative objects
Collector Appeal
The pierced tail and arched body show the figure carved in the round, not simply worked in relief. At under 10 cm long, it suits a desk, a bookshelf or a cabinet of small collected objects.
Cut from a single block, the dragon has never left the stone it stands on; it only looks as if it might.
