China, 8th-13th century. Well carved in the round as a recumbent camel with its legs tucked under its body, the face turned to the side and detailed with wide round eyes, the fur around its two humps demarcated by fine incised lines, with a circular aperture drilled vertically in the center. The stone of a white tone with russet inclusions.

Provenance: From a private collector of Chinese jades in the United Kingdom, who over the last ten years has been supplementing the jade collection he inherited from his father, assembled in London during the 1970s.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and natural imperfections.

Weight: 77.4 g
Dimensions: Length 5 cm

Literature comparison:
Compare with a few jade camels of approximately the same date: one from the McElney Collection, dated Tang, illustrated by James Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p. 61, no. 40; another two, dated to the 10th century, illustrated ibid., nos. 41 and 42; an example from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Bull, dated Tang dynasty or later, sold at Sotheby's New York, 6 December 1983, lot 212; and a yellow jade camel, dated Song-Ming dynasty, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, The Gerald Godfrey Private Collection of Fine Chinese Jades, 30 October 1995, lot 867.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's Hong Kong, 31 May 2010, lot 2105
Price: HKD 212,500 or approx. EUR 37,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pale celadon jade camel, Tang/Song dynasty, 8th-13th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of carving with similar pose, incised details, and few deeply carved lines to express the pose. Note the size (5.7 cm).