Mythic beast

Carved from a greenish hetian jade with flaws that was treated on the underside with brown dye, a single-horned creature crouches with its upper body curved and its head turned slightly to the left. The horn, ears, and eyebrows are all rendered in shallow relief with comma cloud forms, and the nostrils have two symmetrical commas. The neck is that of a lion, with two layers of refined mane, densely incised, that curl at the ends. On the back are two large wings. They consist of panel friezes in relief at the top and long feathers beneath in straight rows incised with parallel bevel strokes. The tail coils up onto the left hindquarter. The four paws under the creature's body show toes in round relief with engraved pads.

Excellent workmanship was applied to a whimsical design that combined a traditional dragon with the wings of a bird. This was an innovation of the beginning 1900s