A Chinese pale celadon jade carving of a qilin 18th century

A Chinese pale celadon jade carving of a qilin 18th century, seated with a raised head and open mouth, the front paws sightly turned in and the tail curling upwards, with a pronounced spine, the body and neck lightly incised with scales, and the stone with slight russet markings to the face, the base later inscribed with calligraphy, 8.3cm. Provenance: an important European private collection formed in the 19th century by a Russian nobleman and diplomat. Cf. S. Marchant & Son's 85th Exhibition of Chinese Jades from Tang to Qing, p.100 for an example dated to the Tang/Song dynasty.