According to Buddhist legend, the makara was originally a whale that saved the lives of five hundred drowning merchants at sea, and then sacrificed itself by providing its own body for food to feed the victims. Because of its compassion and sacrifice, both important virtues in Buddhist philosophy, the whale was then immortalized and transformed into a makara, characterized by the head of a dragon, the body of a whale with wings and a pearl by its side.

See a remarkable yellow jade vase of this form, exhibited in Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1975, no. 421, later sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 October 2007, lot 1210; another similar carved yellow jade example, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 April 1992, lot 1224.