Chinese Figure of a Phoenix on a Recumbent Ram

Goat balanced on a ram, with curls of mane and cloud everywhere.

This jade figure of a phoenix on a recumbent ram is from China, and dates to the 20th century. The phoenix, or fenghuang, is a mythical bird in Chinese tradition that is generally associated with harmony and good fortune, and it is a common subject in carved jade. Stacked pair of animals, a horned goat poised above a rounder, crouched beast, joined by scrolling mane and cloud shapes. Smooth, milky white with warm yellow-orange veins and openwork gaps between the curls. It is 1.5 inches wide, 0.75 deep and 2.25 high.

A tidy tower of livestock, and nobody wobbles.