VIENNA and Antique Chinese since 1968 Jades · 2018-09-03 · and Antique Chinese Jades zacke VIENNA since 1968 Catalogue no. 40 ZACKE AUCTION ARCHAIC AND ANTIQUE CHINESE JADES SEPTEMBER

Special Auction September 29th 2018

古代及古玩玉器藝術拍賣 2018年 9月 29日

zackeVIENNA 7 MARIAHILFERSTR. 112

Archaicand Antique Chinese

Jades

zackeVIENNAsince 1968

Catalogue no. 40

www.zacke.at

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ICA

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aukJAD 918 US1-4 :Layout 1 29.08.2018 10:14 Uhr Seite 1

TANG 唐

5 DYNASTIES

SONG 宋

YUAN 元

MING 明

QING 清

NEOLITHIC PERIOD新石器時代Jade-using cultures:

Hongshan 紅山Lingjiatan 凌家灘Liangzhu 良渚Shijiahe 石家河Qijia 齊家

SHANG 商

ZHOU 周Western ZhouEastern ZhouChunqiu (Spring & Autumn)Zhanguo (Warrng States)

QIN 秦

HAN 漢Western HanEastern Han

6 DYNASTIES

SUI 隋

c. 5500 - 1700

c. 4500 - 3000

c. 3600 - 3300

c. 3300 - 2200

c. 2500 - 2000

c. 2500 - 1900

1600 - 1100

1100 - 2561100 - 770770 - 220770 - 475475 - 221

221 - 206

206 BC - 220 AD206 BC - 9 AD

25 - 220

220 - 589

581 - 618

618 - 907

907 - 960

960 - 1279

1279 - 1368

1368 - 1644

1644 - 1911

MARIAHILFERSTR. 112VIENNA 7STAIRCASE 1, 2nd FLOOR (LIFT)

THE AUCTION ROOM

50 YEARS GALERIE ZACKE

Further images of all lots atwww.zacke.at


zackeVIENNA

Auction

Archaic and Antique

Chinese

Jades

CATALOG JAK0918

GALERIE ZACKE . A-1070 VIENNA . MARIAHILFERSTR. 112Tel +43-1-5320452 Fax +20 E-Mail [email protected]

中國古代玉器拍賣2018年9月29日

VIEWING

In our gallery on Mariahilferstreet

from September 1st

Mo - Fr 1 pm to 6 pm CET

and by

appointment

www.zacke.at

Saturday September 29th 2018 at 1 pm CET

Front coverLot 32

Back coverLot 40

This special auction offers a particularly choice selection of some of the oldest jades fromthe cultural region of China. All 40 of these pieces are shown in the publication (picturedbelow) "4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades" by Univ. Prof. Dr. Filippo Salviati. The num-ber for each picture is listed in the texts of this catalog. The jades have been ordered bytheir respective time ranges, starting with the oldest Neolithic cultures that worked withjade - Hongshan and Liangzhu. Both are unmistakable in the peculiarities of their jademanufacture, which after all may date back around 4000 to 6000 years. This also appliesto the Dawenkou culture, which is followed by the Bronze Age with the Qijia culture aswell as the earliest dynasties, beginning with Shang and followed by Zhou. Jades from theShang dynasty are rare, but production increased afterwards and during the time of theEastern Zhou, which is divided into the periods of Chunqiu (“Spring and Autumn”, 770-475 BC) and Zhanguo (“Warring States”, 475-221 BC), the peak of Chinese jade art hadbeen reached. You can find a chronology on the inside back cover of this catalog.

It is evident that the tools used to work the very hard mineral known as “jade” improvedconsiderably over time. The first mechanical tools are said to have originated from theBronze Age; jigsaws, drills with replaceable drill chuck and rotating grinding wheels havebeen attested. During the Zhou dynasty, buzz saws are said to have been first used andwere indispensable for manufacturing bi disks. These rapidly increased in popularity (anddiameter) from the late Zhou dynasty into the Han dynasty, which marks the end of thechronological sequence of the jades offered in this auction.

The extensive book "4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades" by Filippo Salviati, comprising368 pages as well as 352 jade works, pictured and discussed in detail, can be ordered fromus directly. It should be noted that especially the re-ferences to comparable pieces from archaeologicalfinds as well as in jade literature (including interna-tional museums), which Salviati collected and hasprecisely listed in his book, are particularly valuable.

FOREWORD

1

DRAGON-SHAPED PENDANT ZHULONGLate Neolithic, Hongshan culture, c. 3500 – 3000 BC

玉猪龍 - 新石器時代晚期, 紅山文化, 公元前35世紀-前30世紀

One of the most typical categories of Hongshan ornaments is de-finitively represented by pendants carved in the shape of coiled‘dragons’ or mythical creatures. The overall shape of the orna-ment recalls the original rounded shape of the pebble out ofwhich the ornament was carved. With the exception of the ani-mal’s head which protrudes from the contour of the stone, thependant is plain and smoothed down, providing a warm feelingwhen the jade is handled and worn. The head of the animal, sep-arated from the rest of the body by a deep cut in the stone, termi-nates just before the inner central perforation which is drilledfrom both sides of the stone and finely polished. The cut standsfor the mouth of the animal, whereas the lines carved just abovethe incision suggest the snout. The round, bulging eyes are high-lighted and encircled by a large groove, while the ears of themythical creature emerge slightly from the jade: a small ridge be-tween the ears marks the animal’s forehead. An additional conicalperforation on the back, just below the head, serves as the sus-pension hole. The jade, which is highly polished and smooth, islight green and translucent, with only a few brownish patchesgenerated by the iron inclusions.

Pendants worked in the shape of coiled dragons are attested inseveral Hongshan sites: see those reproduced in Liaoning Archae-ological Institute, Niuheliang Hongshan wenhua yizhi yu yuqijingcui (A short presentation of the Niuheliang archaeologicalsite, Hongshan culture and its jades), Beijing 1997, nos. 1, 2 and 5.

This pendant is published in Filippo Salviati4000 YEARS OF CHINESE ARCHAIC JADESEdition Zacke, Vienna 2017, no. 13

HEIGHT 4,2 CM高 4,2 厘米

Provenance:From an Austrian private collection

Starting price EUR 1.300,-(Estimate EUR 2.600,-)

2

CLUB-SHAPED ORNAMENTLate Neolithic period, Hongshan culture, c. 4700-2900 BC

勾形玉器 - 新石器時代晚期, 紅山文化, 公元前35世紀-前30世紀

This pendant belongs to a category of Hongshan ornamentsknown in Chinese literature as gou or bing -hook or handle-shaped ornaments. They invariably have an elongated form witha hole drilled at one of the extremities and a hook-shaped format the other, a shape which recalls the protrusions often seen onHongshan ‘hookedcloud’ ornaments. Two small notches separatethe ‘handle’ of the pendant from the hooked protrusion, whosesurface is marked by fine grooves. The suspension hole is slantedand drilled from one side only of the pendant. The translucentlight-green jade is polished to a high lustre and has virtually noinclusions.

A similar pendant excavated from a Hongshan culture site in theChifeng district, Right Bairin Banner, Inner Mongolia, is publishedin Yang Boda, Zhongguo meishu quanji: yuqi (Chinese works ofart series: jade) vol.9, Beijing 1986, no.4; two other comparablependants in the collections of the Liaoning Provincial Museum arereproduced in Mou Yongkang, Zhongguo yuqi quanji - 1 Yuanshishehui (Chinese Jades: Vol.1, Early Societies), Shijiazhuang 1993,nos.8-9. Another similar pendant has been excavated from thetomb of Fu Hao of the late Shang period, Anyang (ca.1250 BC)and is illustrated in Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Yinxu yuqi(Jades from Yinxu), Wenwu Chubanshe, Beijing 1981, no.28. Thisjade is published in Filippo Salviati, Mysterious Jades of AncientChina, Edition Zacke 2014.


LENGTH 8,1 CM長 8,1 厘米



3

CONGLate Neolithic, Liangzhu culture, c. 3300-2200 BC

獸面紋玉琮 - 良渚文化, 公元前33世紀-前22世紀

The cong is one of the most peculiar types of jades created by theLiangzhu culture, and its basic shape is epitomized by the presentexample. This enigmatic object, whose exact function has not yetbeen fully understood, has an external squared section and an in-ternal, cylindrical perforation. The triangular registers carved onthe exterior of the cong are always decorated with stylized masks,the most widespread motif seen on Liangzhu jades. As illustratedin this example, the masks incised at the corners of the cong areof two types. Those carved in the top registers have anthropomor-phic features, with a short bar standing for the mouth, smallrounded eyes rendered by two concentric circles and two parallelbands on the top filled with striated lines. The second type ofmask is zoomorphic and is characterized by round, slanting eyesjoined by a slightly arched bar. The present cong has a wide perfo-ration and thin walls, so that it looks like a cylinder with the rec-tangular panels projecting from ist surface. By virtue of its smallsize and large central perforation, this type of cong is labelled‘bracelet-shaped’ cong.

Similar examples have been excavated from the graves of two im-portant Liangzhu Culture cemeteries, Yaoshan and Fanshan, lo-cated in Yuhang County, Zhejiang Province, near the city ofHangzhou. The jade used to carve this cong is translucent andlight green in colour with many brown spots generated by iron in-clusions. A somewhat similar example was excavated at theLiangzhu culture Fuquanshan site, tomb M6:21. For an onlineimage of the excavated cong see http://masterpieces.asemus.mu-seum/masterpiece/detail.nhn?objectId=10877


PERIMETER 5,4 x 5,4 CM, DIAMETER PERFORATION 4,4 CM高 5,4 厘米, 寬 5,4 厘米, 孔徑 4,4 厘米



4

A CONG-SHAPED BEADLate Neolithic, Liangzhu culture, c. 3300-2200 BC

獸面紋琮形玉墜 - 新石器時代晚期, 良渚文化, 約公元前33世紀-前22世紀

Although most Liangzhu beads are cylindrical or spherical and bear nodecoration, this very special one belongs to the category of beads with asquare cross-section worked in the shape of a miniature cong. The bead isdecorated with the two types of masks that are seen on Liangzhu culturejades. The masks are accurately rendered and organized in two registers,with the anthropomorphic mask placed over the animal one. Given the re-duced space on which the images are carved, the round eyes of thehuman-like mask are set at the centre of the four sides, so that they areshared by each of the masks carved at the corners. Instead, the zoomor-phic masks are fully detailed, but there are only two of them since eachone occupies two sides of the bead. The parallel, striated bands on the topborder form a continuous band. The jade has turned almost opaque white,while the surface is covered by reddish lines, indicating the presence of ox-idized iron in the stone. This alteration, artificially induced through ritualburning of the jades at the time of burial, is also seen on Liangzhu jadesthat were excavated from the two elite cemeteries of Fanshan andYaoshan in Yuhan county, Zhejiang. Although small cong-shaped beadslike this one may have been strung together with several others to com-pose elaborate necklaces that were reserved for the members of theLiangzhu aristocracy, archaeological evidence indicates that they mightalso have been used to decorate ritual jade axes: the beads were probablyhung by small ropes that were secured onto the wooden shaft, whose ex-tremities were also occasionally adorned with jade fittings.

Literature comparison / Archaeological sites: These bead can be comparedto similar ones excavated from Liangzhu culture sites, such as those repro-duced in Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Liangzhuwenhua yuqi 良渚文化玉器 (Jades of the Liangzhu Culture), Wenwuchubanshe, Beijing 1990, nos.70, 175-177, and in Huang Xuanpei, Gems ofthe Liangzhu Culture from the Shanghai Museum, Hong Kong Museum ofHistory, Hong Kong 1992, no.69.

This pendant is published in Filippo Salviati4000 YEARS OF CHINESE ARCHAIC JADESEdition Zacke, Vienna 2017, no. 68a

HEIGHT 4.9 CM高4.9厘米



5

AXE-SHAPED PENDANTLate Neolithic, Dawenkou culture, c. 3000-2000 BC

鉞形玉佩 - 新石器時代晚期, 大汶口文化, 公元前 3000-2000

A rare jade amulet in the shape of an axe - reflects the layeringof the stone, which must have been carefully calculated by thecarver. Cutting across the series of layers there is a pattern re-sembling symmetrical waves. The upper edge is gently curved.The central hole is drilled from one side and carefully levelled,and the whole surface on both sides is finely polished. Theserare types of simple axes made of unusual stones are found inthe Dawenkou and Liangzhu periods.

Early societies that made use of jade during the late Neolithicperiod and the transition to the Bronze Age include theDawenkou culture (c. 4500-2500 BC), with sites mostly distri-buted in Shandong province, and the Longshan culture (c. 2600-1900 BC), which was spread over a larger area, with regionaldifferentiations in Shanxi (Taosi culture), Henan and Shaanxiprovinces. The jades found in their sites are mostly derived fromtypes developed by the two neighbouring and major jade-usingcultures, Hongshan in the north and Liangzhu in the south.Small axe-shaped ornaments, such as this jade here, can also beassigned to these Neolithic cultures and continued to be madein the following Bronze Age.


LENGTH 6.8 cm長 6.8 厘米

Provenance:From the collection of the German palaeoanthropologist G. H.Ralph von Koenigswald (1902 - 1982), acquired around 1939 inBeijing


6

DISCEarly Bronze Age, Qijia Culture, c. 2200 - 1600 BC

玉璧 - 青銅器時代早期, 齊家文化, 公元前 2200-1600

This attractive disc is carved from a pale green, semi-translucent jadewith large brown and reddish areas: part of the body is also coveredby dark speckles. The chalky-white patches visible along the rim areportions of the jade which have been heavily modified while the discwas buried in the tomb: these alterations occur as a reaction to theacidity of the soil or if the jades were put in contact with the corpse.As it is often the case with jades from North-west China, the centralhole has been drilled from one side only and the core was probablychopped off, as suggested by the slightly rugged look of the rim bor-dering the hole.

Discs carved in jade and stone are among the most common arte-facts discovered in burials of the Qijia culture: one of the most richlyfurnished tombs of the Huangniangniangtai site, in Gansu province,has yielded more than eighty stone discs. The tomb was a joint bur-ial, with a male in the centre accompanied by two females on thesides: all of the bi discs were found positioned near the male skele-ton.

Several similar discs from the collection of Robert H. Ellsworth (1929-2014), together with other jades from Chinese cultures of the north-west, were auctioned at Christie’s New York, sale 11420, 19 March2015: see lot 559 for a disc comparable. A close comparable examplecarved in a differently coloured stone is a disc from Gallery Zacke,catalogue number AK1115-111.


DIAMETER 9 CM直徑 9 厘米

Provenance:From an old Austrian-Hungarian collection


7

AXE FUEarly Bronze Age, Qijia Culture, c. 2200 - 1600 BC

玉斧 - 青銅器時代早期, 齊家文化, 公元前 2200-1600

Slightly curved on all sides, stronger on blade. Very nice, effectivegrain with veins, light and dark areas, which are especially defined inthe translucense, as well as strong reddish to yellowish color. Agecharacteristics with corrosion on the edges, especially in the area ofthe blade. These jade axes were manufactured by cultures located incentral and north-western China, such as Qijia. The shape of this axerecalls that of the Dawenkou and Longshan culture axes, from whichthey derive: they are thin, with a pronounced rectangular, tablet-shaped profile and the edges are smooth but not rounded. The holeto secure the axe onto the handle is drilled from one side only of thejade and the surface is polished. As for the bi discs and the congtubes, the jade used by the cultures of the north-west is not uniformand the colour changes dramatically on the basis of the mineralogi-cal composition of the jade whose main tone is usually yellowish orpale green. In any case, the carvers took advantage of the complex-ity of the material and skilfully created items of prestige with richand variegated textures that were further enhanced by the translu-cency of the stone: the zigzagging white vein on the surface of thisaxe adds a further, dramatic effect to the light-coloured jade withbrown markings. Actually, this blade is brilliant and resplendentwhen the light filters through.


LENGTH 12 CM長 12 厘米



8

AXE FUEarly Bronze Age, Qijia Culture, c. 2200 - 1600 BC


This axe has a pronounced rectangular though still tapering profile,a slightly rounded top and a less marked cutting edge. The sides arebevelled and the hole is drilled from one side only of the highly tex-tured jade, whose diffused iron inclusions and natural fractures cre-ate stunning visual effects, showing how the craftsman was able totake full advantage of the raw material and carve out of it an objectof imposing beauty. The material itself clearly indicates that this jadeaxe was not produced by the late Neolithic cultures of SouthernChina, such as Liangzhu, which made use of local sources of jadecharacterized by a different crystalline structure and differentcolours. In size and shape it can be compared to a similar object ex-cavated from a tomb in Shandong province and dated to the late pe-riod of the Dawenkou culture (c. 4500 - 2500 BC, reproduced inChilds-Johnson, “Dragon, masks, axes and blades”, fig. 12). Thecolouring of the jade out of which the present axe was crafted dis-plays similarities with axes and blades found in late Neolithic sitesdistributed in central and north-west China and with others in publiccollections, such as one in the British Museum reproduced inRawson, “Chinese Jade”, p. 177, fig. 1.



Provenance:From the collection of the German palaeoanthropologist G. H.Ralph von Koenigswald (1902 - 1982), acquired around 1939 inBeijing


9

THREE-SECTION DISCEarly Bronze Age, Qijia culture, c. 2200-1600 BC

三節玉璧 - 青銅器時代早期, 齊家文化, 公元前 2200-1600

Instead of being carved from a single piece of jade, this disc is actu-ally formed by three arched segments, probably sliced from the sameblock of raw material. Each arched segment has both ends drilledwith one and two holes, respectively: when the three segments arejoined together to form a disc, the ends with one hole match thosedrilled with two. Such composite discs, formed by two to four seg-ments and of varying dimensions, have been found in several burialsof the Qijia culture, which developed in North-west China, and re-present one of the most characteristic type of jades of this lateNeolithic culture. Qijia sites which have yielded three-section discslike the present one include Zhaocun, in Tianshuishi, Gansu province,and Minhelajia, in Qinghai province. Here, tomb M17 has yieldedtwo examples of such discs: in the first instance the three segmentshave been found buried in the soil and composed in the shape ofthe disc, while in the second the three portions were stacked oneupon the other. This suggests that these peculiar items were eithercomposed in a single shape or used independently as ornaments.

The jade is of good quality, mostly creamy white and translucent,with patches of light yellow colour and darker veins and speckles.A disc carved from a somewhat similar type of jade and from GalleryZacke can be seen at this link:http://www.zacke.at/en/item/16965/large-bi-diskA similar three-part disc of smaller size and in green jade, part of theRobert H. Ellsworth collection, was auctioned at Christie’s New Yorkon 19 March 2015, Lot 505.


DIAMETER 17.5 CM直徑 17.5 厘米

Provenance:From an Italian private collection


10

FU AXEEarly Bronze Age, Qijia culture, c. 2200-1600 BC


This type of jade axes and ceremonial blades were manufactured bycultures located in central and north-western China, such as Qijia.The shape of this blade recalls that of the Dawenkou and Longshanculture axes, from which it derives: they are thin, with a pronouncedrectangular, tablet-shaped profile and the edges are smooth but notrounded. The hole to secure the axe onto the handle is drilled fromone side only of the jade and the surface is polished. As for the bidiscs and the cong tubes, the jade used by the cultures of the north-west is not uniform and the colour changes dramatically on the basisof the mineralogical composition of the jade whose main tone isusually yellowish or pale green. In any case, the carvers took advan-tage of the complexity of the material and skilfully created items ofprestige with rich and variegated textures that were further en-hanced by the translucency of the stone. Actually, these blades arebrilliant and resplendent when the light filters through, while theylook opaque and duller if placed on a surface. When exposed to thelight, the brown and reddish areas become semi-transparent andyellow-gold coloured, while the white zones, free from inclusionsand impurities, are fully translucent.


LENGTH 15.3 CM長 15.3 厘米

Provenance:From an Italian private collection


11

COLLARED RINGLate Shang dynasty, c. 1200 BC

有領玉環 - 商代晚期, 公元前13世紀-前11世紀

Collared rings owe their name to the fact that the border of the cen-tral perforation extends to both sides, thus creating a ridge or collar.They form a particular category in the jade repertory of ancientChina, mostly attested during the late Shang period: examples havebeen unearthed from the tomb of Fu Hao, at Anyang, Henanprovince (c.1200 BC) and in the Shang period sites of Dayangzhou,Xing’an, Jiangxi province and Sanxingdui, Guanghan, Sichuan. How-ever, it is possible that these peculiar ornaments were created inother regions and then imported to the metropolitan centres ofShang China: their ‘foreign’ origin may explain why these collaredrings disappeared from the jade repertory of shapes with the demiseof the Shang dynasty. It is not clear how these ornaments were used,though there is evidence that they were worn as bracelets. Suchrings were probably put on the wrist in early childhood and the per-son then grew with the ornament on the arm. During the lateNeolithic, these rings were fashioned in other materials, such as clay,shell or ivory, as shown by finds from late Dawenkou culture tombs(c. 3000-2500 BC) in Shandong: jade became the standard mediumonly in the late Shang period. Moreover, these collared rings usuallycome in two types: plain, as this presented here, or with tiny groovesincised on the surface. Sometimes, as in examples from Shang tombs,their dimensions are larger so that they look more like discs. Compa-rable examples include those discovered in the late Shang tomb ofFu Hao and a collared disc in green jade from the “Samuel andMyrna Myers collection”, Salviati 2000, no.69.


DIAMETER 8.4 CM直徑 8.4 厘米

Provenance:From a German collection


12

PENDANT DECORATED WITH A BIRDMiddle to late Western Zhou period, 10th-9th century BC

鳳紋玉佩 - 西周, 公元前10世紀–前9世紀

A very fine small plaque of slightly arched shape decorated on both sideswith the image of a crested and long-tailed standing bird in profile. Theplaque, probably recarved from a section of a broken ring, as suggested byits arched profile, has its border decorated on three sides with regularcrenellations: a hole for suspension is drilled near the top, in the crest ofthe bird, with a gold ring attached in modern times. The bird is depicted inan almost calligraphic style, with double thin incised lines marking thecontour of the body and of the long, elaborate tail: this twists and dis-appears behind the body, to re-emerge over the head and terminates in atip in front of the bird’s curved and pointed beak. A long crest or a tuff ofplumes protrudes from the head: the body of the bird is decorated withrounded and squared scrolls. This type of plumed bird is common on jadesof the middle to late Western Zhou period: sometimes below the claws ofthe bird is engraved a stylized coiled dragon. Extensive remains of soil areencrusted within the lines incised on the surface.

Two similar plaques decorated with the same image and indentations onthe border and from the Grenville L. Winthrop (1864-1943) collection arenow part of the Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum collec-tions, accession numbers 1943.50.135 and 1943.50.232. The second of thetwo plaques has an arched profile, as the present lot. The plaques can beseen here:http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/205144?position=5http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/204960?position=36Further comparative examples are provided by two jade plaques deco-rated with the same plumed bird in the Freer/Sackler galleries, Washing-ton, D.C., accession numbers RLS1997.48.3671 and S1987.534, images at:http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/object.php?q=fsg_RLS1997.48.3671http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/object.php?q=fsg_S1987.534


LENGTH 7.6 CM長 7.6 厘米

Provenance:From a German collection


13

HUANG WITH DRAGONSEastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, 6th - 5th Century BC

龍頭玉璜 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前6世紀-前5世紀

This elegantly curved huang in the arch of a quarter circle and exquisitelyeffective white-green color tone of the jade, is regarded as very “noble“.Both ends of the huang are muscular-angular displaying heads of archaickui dragons with serrated contours. The small eyes are depicted as littleovals, the mouth with grommets. Further suggested are manes andwhisker tips. Both sides offer deep relief engraved with designs popular atthat time: “C” and “S” with twisted, animated, hook-shaped ends as wellas spirals and diversely shaped areas with lattice designs. Some age charac-teristics due to iron content (blackish zones) as well as corrosion on theedges. White color with delicate green tone is seen in backlighting.

The motif engraved is stylistically and iconographically relatable to thepatterns used to decorate jades in the Chu culture area: see for example adisc unearthed at Xujialing, Xichuan County, Henan Province reproducedin S. Lee (ed.), China 5000 Years. Innovation and Transformation in theArts, New York 1998, no. 15, decorated with the same motifs of dragons,curls and etched lines, but more coarsely executed. Other examples ofsimilar design are offered by a disc and other jades discovered in the Chuculture Xiongjia tomb at Zhangchang village, Chuandian town, Jingzhou,Hubei Province, decorated with the same patterns. For some small plaquescarved with similar motifs using the same techniques, see those in TheHarvard Art Museums (acc. no. 1943.50.338 a-c) and one in The Art Insti-tute, Chicago (acc. no. 1950.695)


WIDTH 15.5 CM寬 15.5 厘米

Provenance:From an old Austrian-Chinese private collection and has been acquiredbefore 1980


14

SMALL BEAD WITH PATTERN OF CURLSEastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, 6th - 5th Century BC

小玉珠 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前6-5世紀

During the Eastern Zhou period, beads like this one were strung to-gether with other jades - discs, rings and huang, or arched pendants- to make up elaborate necklaces worn by members of the nobility.The bead has a cone-like profile, with one side shorter than theother. It is rather thick with a hole drilled throughout and carvedfrom a dark-coloured type of jade with blackish areas and a chalky-white, altered strip. The surface is decorated with fat, differently ori-ented scrolls in low relief which are often used in the decoration of5th century Eastern Zhou jades, as exemplified by those found in thetomb of the Marquis Yi of the Zeng state, dated after 433 BC.

Compare a bead from the collection of R. H. Ellsworth (1929-2014)sold at Christie’s New York on 19 March 2015 (Sale 11420), Lot 578.And a similar bead sold at Zacke Galerie in December 2016. Verysimilar examples in “Chinese Archaic Jades from the Kwan Collec-tion”, University of Hong Kong, no. 163. Another comparable piecein “Jades of the Eastern Chou and Wu Ch´u Dynasties”, Taiwan 1979,no. 167.


HEIGHT 4.7 CM高 4.7 厘米

Provenance:From a Viennese collection


15

THREE HUANG WITH DRAGONSEastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, 6th - 5th Century BC

龍頭玉璜 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前6世紀-前5世紀

Each of the three pendants is carved with an identical image: two dragon headsin profile facing outwards are incised at the extremities, while the central por-tion of each huang is decorated with angular scrolls recalling the shape of theletters “C” and “S”. The entire contour of the three pendants is further deco-rated with regular notches while two small holes, which were drilled at eachextremity just below the snout of the dragon, were made to suspend thehuang. When hung, the extremities of these three ornaments would have beenturned upwards. It is also possible that they were worn as separate pendants,combined together and with other elements to form elaborate pectorals. In sty-listic terms, the decoration is reminiscent of the decorative vocabulary of thelate Western Zhou period, though the stylized dragons heads and the use ofgeometric scroll-like motifs indicate an Eastern Zhou date, between the end ofthe Spring and Autumn period and the beginning of the following WarringStates phase. The white, transparent jade used is of fine quality, though the sur-face is altered in many areas due to prolonged interment.

There are many excavated huang pendants that can be compared to the pres-ent set, several of which are reproduced in the volume “Zhongguo meishuquanji: Yuqi”. See for example nos. 83 and 84 for earlier Western Zhou proto-types and no. 95 is a good example of a huang dating to the initial phase of theSpring and Autumn period, carved with a decoration and notches similar to thethree presented here. A further example in the same volume is pendant no.102, whose surface is completely covered with the motif of a stylized dragonhead in profile view. Finally, no. 116, excavated in 1978 from the tomb of Mar-quis Yi of the Zeng state, Hubei Province, illustrates a pair of huang joined to-gether with gold wires. For a detailed description of this type of pendant, andhow they were hung and composed in elaborate pectorals, see Rawson, “Chi-nese Jade”, no. 17:4, pp. 265 - 266 and the line drawing on p. 315, fig. 3, show-ing the elaborate pectorals comprising various huang which were found in situin a late Western, early Eastern Zhou burial excavated at Sanmenxia, HenanProvince. Still in the same volume the author discusses two more pendants ofthis type, nos. 17:5 and 17:6, whose contours are decorated with notches, as inthe present example.


WIDTH 14,3 CM寬 14,3 厘米

Provenance:From an old private Austrian-Chinese collection, acquired before 1980


16

HUANG WITH DRAGON HEADS AND PATTERN OF CLOUD-SHAPEDCURLS JUANYUNEastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, 6th - 5th Century BC

卷雲紋龍頭玉璜 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前6世紀-前5世紀

This small refined pendant was not worn by itself, but rather as a connect-ing element in articulated necklaces and pectorals. It is carved out of awhite, translucent jade with virtually no inclusions. The pattern, twodragon heads in profile placed at the extremities and a number of regu-larly spaced, fat curls filling up the rest of the surface, is carved in low re-lief on both sides. At the top centre of the jade, the curls transmute intotwo additional, addorsed dragon heads with upturned snouts. The seg-mented profile of the pendant stresses the physical features of the twolateral dragons, whose mouths are pierced with two suspension holes andfurther embellished with striated bands which mark the right and leftedges of the ornament. A third suspension hole is drilled in the centre ofthe heart-shaped protuberance jetting out from the top section of thependant. This protrusion is clearly differentiated from the rest of the pen-dant: it has a thinner section and its edge is smoothed down. The jade isof fine quality, translucent and white with no inclusions or alterations.

A famous pectoral with jade pendants and gold chains now in the FreerGallery of Art, Washington, D.C., illustrates how the suspension elementswere arranged in composite pectorals: see Lawton, “Chinese Art of theWarring States Period”, pp.132-133. For a larger version of the presentpendant, see the huang no. 31 published in Vol. IV of the series on Chi-nese jades, Gallery Zacke October-November 2012.





17

SMALL DISC WITH DRAGON HEADS AND PATTERN OF CLOUD-SHAPED CURLS JUANYUNEastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, 6th - 5th Century BC

卷雲紋龍頭小玉璧 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前6世紀-前5世紀

Delicate, white jade disc with larger inner opening, a so-called huan.This small disc is decorated with variations of the scroll and dragonpattern commonly seen on late Spring and Autumn period jades. Inthis ring, carved out of white translucent jade with encrustations onpart of the surface, the dragons’ heads are mingled with the scrollsbut remain noticeable under closer inspection.This jade was directlynext to a bronze, as shown by areas with green bronze patina, fur-ther soil deposits. The translucence is pure white, very good condi-tion.

In archaeological contexts, discs with a similar decoration have beenbrought to light from numerous Spring and Autumn period tombs,including those at Zhongzhoulu, Luoyang, Henan province, Yimen,Baoji, Shaanxi province (tomb M2:105) and Jinsheng, Taiyuan, Shanxi(tomb M251).


DIAMETER 3,8 CM直徑 3,8 厘米

Provenance:From an old Austrian collection, acquired from R. H. InvestmentComp. Ltd. London, between 1996- 1997

Starting price EUR 900,-(Estimate EUR 1.800,-)

18

THREE BEADS WITH PATTERN OF RAISED CURLSEastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, 6th - 5th Century BC

三穀紋玉坠 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前6世紀-前5世紀

These three small beads in white jade are decorated with a delicatepattern of spirals in relief, organized in five rows, and an incised linethat delimits the border of each end. All three beads present tracesof alteration from the burial in the form of chalky white areas onmost of the surfaces. Two beads have a cylindrical appearance, whilethe third one has a more barrel-like look. Small beads like thesewere commonly used in the Eastern Zhou period as components ofpendants: the jades were strung together with metal chains or silkcords that passed through the hole drilled at the centre of thebeads.

For similar beads see F. Salviati, 4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades,Edition Zacke, Vienna 2017, no. 206 and Archaic and Antique Chi-nese Jades, auction catalogue, Galerie Zacke, September 29, 2017,lot no. 26.



Provenance:From an old Austrian collection, acquired from R. H. InvestmentComp. Ltd. London, between 1996- 1997

Starting price EUR 900,-(Estimate EUR 1.800,-)

19

HUAN RING WITH ANIMAL MASKS AND BIRDSEastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, 6th - 5th Century BC

獸面, 鳥紋玉環 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前6世紀-前5世紀

This ornament in the shape of a ring is in pale green-white jade with onlyminor iron inclusions which create delicate yellowish tonalities on parts ofthe surface. Traces of alterations in the stone, turned to an opaque whitecolour, can also be seen in some points, not on the surface but inside thejade itself. The decorative motifs are ingeniously carved on the surface tocreate an apparent geometric pattern, which, when carefully analyzed,shows instead to be formed by highly stylized animal motifs regularlyarranged on the surface. The motifs are a pair of confronted birds withquite pronounced beaks alternated to animal masks in frontal view. Eachmotif is repeated three times and twisted by 180° in comparison to thefollowing one, so that the pair of birds and the animal mask cannot beviewed together at first glance. However, if looking for example at oneof the animal mask, the motif of the confronted birds appears orientedin the same direction on the opposite side of the ring. The space betweenthese main motifs is then filled with small scrolls or “C”-like patterns,while other areas of the decoration, such as the horns of the animal masksand details of the birds, are finely incised with thin lines. The motifs are alltypical of the Eastern Zhou artistic vocabulary but are not frequentlyseen together.

The closest example to which this jade can be compared is a disc present-ing similar motifs of animal masks and birds arranged in the same way,first published by Salmony, “Carved jade of ancient China”, pl. 60, andthen in Loehr, “Ancient Chinese jades”, no. 401. In this same volume seealso the carved pendant, no. 372, illustrated also in colour, with an inter-laced pattern of snakes and dragons where parts of the dragon bodies arehighlighted with tiny lines, as in the disc presented here.


DIAMETER 8,9 CM直徑 8,9 厘米

Provenance:From an old Austrian collection


20

HUANG WITH PATTERNS OF CLOUD-SHAPED CURLSEastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn, 6th - 5th Century BC

卷雲紋玉璜 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前6世紀-前5世紀

A huang in form of one third of a circle, both ends are composedwith heads of archaic kui dragons, which look stout and angular.Dominant is, however, the relief engraved with great precision pre-senting unmistakable archaic motifs in “C”- or “S”-form with endsthat are twisted spirally. Particularly fascinating is the compact, onboth sides same and spiritedly executed composition. The designconsists of small, fat scrolls and stylized dragon heads in low reliefwhich cover the entire surface of the jade. The milky green-grey jadeis entirely light-green in focused backlighting, excepting the yellowto dark areas with weathering due to age. In part distinct age char-acteristics, partly almost unaffected condition.

Jades adorned with this pattern have been found in sites that arespread over a very large area which stretches from Shanxi in thenorth to Henan in central China and to Hubei and Jiangsu in thesouth. The comma-like motifs carved on this huang match thoseused to decorate a number of Eastern Zhou jades excavated fromtomb 270 at the Fenshuiling site, Changzhi city, Shanxi Province,which display the same variegated vocabulary of scrolls seen on thepresent one.





21

ORNAMENT SHAPED AS A DRAGON WITH TWO SNAKESEastern Zhou, 5th - 4th Century BC

雙蛇龍形玉飾 - 東周, 公元前5世紀-前4世紀

This delicate small pendant carved as a dragon in profile with twosnake-like creatures on its body has quite an unusual shape and lacksthe sense of symmetry which characterizes similar Eastern Zhou smallornaments of the same category. Actually, it seems that the pendanthas been recarved from a larger piece of jade, as the side of the orna-ment opposite the dragon’s head ends abruptly with a very sharp, ver-tical cut, thus shortening the tail of the snake so that it does not endin the gentle, spiraling way like the tail of the other snake-like crea-ture. The way the image is composed is also quite odd: the dragon inprofile has the central portion of its body entirely occupied by acurled snake whose head extends downwards towards the dragon’sclawed feet. The extended and sharply curved body of a secondsnake-like animal forms the top left part of the ornament and out-lines a cut-out area in the jade, as the body of the other snake at thecentre of the pendant does. The bodies of the two animals are deco-rated with different patterns: the one on the top left is incised withscales, the other with thin, twisting parallel lines. This same patternalso marks the neck of the dragon, whose body is further decoratedwith curls and “S”-shaped motifs. The claws of the dragon, emergingfrom the bottom of the animal, are clearly delineated, as are its eyes,protruding ear and large, upturned snout. The jade is of an intensegreen colour: one side shows signs of strong, natural weathering, inthe form of brown and darker, black areas, the latter probably alsodue to high iron inclusions in the stone. Despite the oddity of itsshape, this ornament has an almost exact counterpart in one pub-lished in Wu Hung and Morgan, “Chinese Jades from the Mu-Fei Col-lection”, no. 22, which exhibits not only the same motifs and abruptcut but which was also carved out of a jade very similar to the presentone.





22

PENDANT IN THE SHAPE OF A DOUBLE DRAGONEastern Zhou, 5th - 4th Century BC

雙蛇龍形玉飾 - 東周, 公元前5世紀-前4世紀

In this slightly asymmetrical pendant, the dragons are represented inprofile view, their bodies designing an elegant curve which form a“U”-shaped arch in the centre of the ornament where a small suspen-sion hole has been pierced. The heads of the animals are turned back-wards, as if the dragons are facing each other from the opposite sidesof the pendant. The body of each dragon extends along the entirelength of the pendant, parallel to the other dragon’s body so thateach animal’s tail ends up close to the opposite dragon’s head. Thebodies of the animals meet at the centre of the ornament where theytwist, one passing on top of the other. Careful observation of the cen-tral portion of the ornament reveals evidence of the difficulties thecarver met when trying to overlap the two dragons’ bodies: they seemto disappear into the small hole pierced at the top of the pendant in-stead of intersecting. The details of the dragons’ bodies help decodethe image. The two animals are provided with front and rear paws.The front paws are located in the portion of the body close to thedragon’s head and firmly grasp the other dragon’s body, as can beseen on the left and right side of the pendant: near the paws there isa tuft of hair carved in a volute marked with thin lines. The rear paws,provided with claws as the front ones, are located at the centre of thependant just below the suspension hole. Two more appendagesemerge from below the dragons’ bodies, while the entire body of thedragon is decorated with scales, scroll-like patterns and double incisedlines. This jade has a diffused brownish colouration and black mark-ings.



Provenance:From an old private Austrian-Chinese collection,acquired before 1980


23

OPENWORK PENDANT WITH DRAGONSEastern Zhou, Warring States, 4th - 3th Century BC

鏤空雙龍紋玉佩 - 東周, 战国, 公元前4世紀-前3世紀

This small openwork pendant was probably used as connecting element ina necklace and pectoral and presents a harmoniously balanced decorationarranged along a central axis of symmetry. The top of the ornament isformed by a small arc whose extremities are shaped as dragon heads inprofile, almost like a miniaturized version of the huang pendant. Belowand comprised within the arc there is a heart-shaped element: this and thesmall huang above are encircled by the tails of two addorsed dragonswhose twisted, adhering bodies design an “S”-shaped curve. The heads ofthe dragons, placed laterally on both sides of the pendant, turn upwardsand their mouths are pierced with a small suspension hole from whichother jades could be strung. The bodies of the animals are completely dec-orated with finely incised curls, long “S”-shaped lines and etched patterns,while at the bottom of the ornament the two dragons’ bodies are joinedthrough a curved and striated element. On one side of the pendant thepale yellow colour of the jade has turned brown due to strong iron inclu-sions, while on another area of the top part it has become darker andblack. The jade shows strong signs of natural weathering on one side ofthe ornament: the surface is also covered with remains of soil encrusta-tions and traces of red pigment. Although there are no comparable exam-ples which match this pendant exactly, there are many other smallornaments in the same category which share similar features with the onepresented here, including the small dimension: see for example the tworeproduced in Salmony, Carved Jade, pl. 46, nos. 2 and 3, the latter in theWilliam Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City.


HEIGHT 4.2 CM高 4.2 厘米

Provenance:From an old Austro-Chinese private collection and has been acquiredbefore 1980


24

ORNAMENT WITH HUMAN FIGURESEastern Zhou, Warring States, 4th Century BC

玉人形飾 - 東周, 战国, 公元前4世紀

This Jade is shaped as a small rectangular plaque carved on bothsides with two pairs of human figures wearing long-sleeved robesdecorated with “S”-shaped patterns in bold lines on the front andcircles that alternate with plain crossing bands on the back. On eachside, the two pairs of figures are represented standing next to eachanother: a pair faces the viewer while the other is turned. One arm israised near the head and the other is placed in front of the waist,with the long sleeve reaching the bottom of the robe. The figurinesprobably represent dancers whose faces have large eyes, big nosesand an austere expression. The jade has a white-green opaque sur-face, a yellow-red tone is seen in focused backlighting.

The human figure was very rarely represented on jades of the East-ern Zhou period: most of the occurrences are from the Chu culturalsphere in the south and from the finds related to the semi-barbariankingdom of Zhongshan that flourished near the modern city ofBaoding in Hebei province, to which the carving can be stylisticallyassigned. Several matching plaquettes and figurines have come tolight from the tombs of the royal Zhongshan cemetery, excavated atPingshan, Hebei province, and dated to c. 310 BC. Another compara-ble ornament with three human figures is in the Harvard Art Muse-ums (acc. no.1943.50.319).





25

HUANG WITH TWO DRAGONS AND SNAKESEastern Zhou, Warring States, 4th Century BC

雙龍雙蛇紋玉璜 - 東周, 战国, 公元前4世紀

This small dragon-shaped pendant is ingeniously worked in the shape oftwo interlocking dragons. The heads, carved at the extremities, face oppo-site directions while their tails intertwine at the top of the ornament form-ing an elegant loop which acts as the suspension hole for the ornament.The dragons’ pawed claws emerge from the bottom of their bodies, whiletwo more curling appendages overlap the dragons’ bodies at the centre ofthe pendant. This pendant can be considered to be a stylistic variation ofthe more common double-headed dragon pendants, where the animalsshare a common body. In this case however, the design is more complex,not just because the two dragons are partly intertwined but also becausethere is an additional pair of snakelike animals carved over the two drag-ons’ bodies. The snakes’ heads, seen from above, are placed close to thedragons’ heads, while their bodies, marked with thin lines, overlap thoseof the dragons. The jade is of a dark, brown colour with black marks andspots distributed all over the stone. There are a few old chips, mostly lo-cated at the centre of the composition near the bottom border, whichwere probably generated by faults in the stone when the jade was carved.

Two similar pendants are reproduced respectively in Yang Boda, ChineseArchaic Jades, no. 183, and in Salviati, Radiant Stones, no. 103. The maindifference between these two pendants and the present one is that in thecomparable pieces the dragons’ bodies cross over each other at the centreof the ornament, while each dragon’s tail touches the other dragon’s jaw,designing a horizontal “8”-shaped pattern. The suspension hole is thus notcreated by the intertwining tails, as in the present example, but by the ap-pendages of the dragons’ bodies which, as in the present example, areadorned with an additional snake-like creature extending over the wholelength of the dragons’ bodies.


WIDTH 12.6 CM寬 12.6 厘米

Provenance:From an old private Austrian collection


26

DRAGON-SHAPED PLAQUEEastern Zhou, Warring States, 4th Century BC

龍形玉佩 - 東周, 战国, 公元前4世紀

These rather sketchy dragon-shaped pendants form a category ofjades that is mostly attested in royal and princely burials of the Chuculture where they are usually found in pairs. These jades were notworn as pendants in life but rather used as accompanying burialgoods that were placed in the grave, sometimes over the coffin.Quite imposing in size, this plaque is shaped like a sketched dragonin profile whose body bend in a bold “S”-shaped form. The mainfeature of the dragon is highlighted through cut-outs in the stone:the crested head is turned towards the back, the tips of the snoutstouch the bodys and the long tail bend upwards, terminating in a bi-furcated volute. The central portion of the body, drilled with smallperforations, is decorated with bold, incised curls: instead, the neck,crest and tail are marked by simple engraved lines which follow theundulations of the dragons’ body.

Many jades of this type have been excavated from Chu culturetombs of the late Warring States period in Hubei. Similar pieces werediscovered in 1976 in the Han period tombs at Guangling, Yangzhou,Zhejiang province. A pair of very similar dragon-shaped jades wasfound in 2011 from a princely Eastern Zhou tomb in Lu’an city, Anhuiprovince. Another comparable example is represented by a dragonplaque in the Freer/Sackler Galleries, Washington, D.C., which is saidto have come from Changsha, Hunan province (acc. no.F1917.376).





27

PENDANT SHAPED AS A DRAGON AND A PHOENIXEastern Zhou, Warring States, 4th - 3th Century BC

龍鳳形玉佩 - 東周, 战国, 公元前4世紀-前3世紀

This small pendant is basically shaped as a dragon in profile with a phoenix heademerging from its body: however, when examined closely, a far more subtle composi-tion is revealed. The image should in fact be read as that of a dragon and a phoenixsharing a same body, as if the carver wanted to melt together the images of thesetwo mythical animals which are often represented together in jade pendants of theEastern Zhou period. The body of the dragon is carved in an elongated and sinuousshaped plastic pose. The head is turned towards the back from which a carved, upsidedown phoenix head looking in the direction of the dragon protrudes. In this way,from whichever side the pendant it is looked at, one or the other of the animal’sheads remains clearly discernible. Besides the protuberance which emerges from theback of the dragon head, representing the long ear of the animal, there are fourother small appendages carved along the outline of the pendant. Counting from thedragon’s head, the first two, one positioned below the neck and the other under thelower jaw of the animal, appear to be the dragon’s claws. The third appendage,slightly longer and differently detailed than the other, stands instead for thephoenix’s foot (or feet, assuming that in profile view only one is visible). Finally, thefourth element, slightly protruding from the outline of the pendant, looks like asmall wing, an interpretation reinforced by the fact that it is positioned near thephoenix’s head. The bodies of the two animals are then totally covered with fat “V”-shaped curls which look like stylized hearts, a decoration comprised between the twonarrow, plain strips running along the entire contour of the pendant. This was proba-bly suspended through one of the two holes which are drilled near the front paw ofthe dragon and right in the neck of the phoenix. The position of the holes suggeststhat the pendant was probably suspended vertically from one of the holes, likely thatof the dragon, while other small jades were hung from the other, though this is onlya tentative explanation to explain an oddity not often seen on pendants of this type.When held against a source of light, the jade looks transparent and of a yellowishcolour. Surface alteration has affected various areas of the pendant, parts of whichretain traces of soil and possibly metal encrustations: it also seems that there are im-pressions of fabric left on the protuberance below the dragon’s neck. A dragon pen-dant decorated with the same “C”-shaped curls is illustrated in Rawson, “ChineseJade”, no. 17:11. Another comparable example is in the collections of the Harvard ArtMuseums and published in Loehr, “Ancient Chinese Jades”, no. 424.





28

DRAGON-SHAPED PENDANTLate Eastern Zhou, early Western Han, 3rd-2nd Century BC

龍形玉佩 - 東周晚期, 西漢早期, 公元前3世紀-前2世紀

This peculiar pendant, carved in the shape of a dragon, is so richly detailedthat it is almost impossible to decipher the full image at a first glance, ifnot for the head of the animal which stands out clearly. The difficulty inreading the whole design is also due to the particular type of stone chosenby the carver and its intrinsic characteristics. The jade is in fact dark greenin colour, with a lighter patch on one side of the carving showing the dis-tinctive compact crystal aggregates which characterize the structure ofnephrite jade. In addition, two light brown bands run along the top andbottom sides, creating a visual contrast with the central, green section ofthe stone. In all likelihood, these brown stripes correspond to the externallayer – the so-called ‘skin’- of the pebble from which the jade was carved.This might also explain the peculiar, almost rectangular conformation ofthe pendant and the complexity of its design: the carver had to adjust theimage to the size and shape of the thin slab of jade, which explains whythe features of the dragon are so difficult to recognize. The mythical ani-mal is represented with a twisted body in a compressed, “S”-shaped form.The head, provided with a long, elaborate crest extending along the bot-tom side of the ornament, shows all the features of similar Eastern Zhoudragons carved in jade. The four paws, each stemming from twisted lowerlimbs, and which seem to be grasping at different parts of the animal, canbe detected by following the contour of the body. Despite the small di-mensions of the object, the entire surface is enriched by additional decora-tive details, mostly thin engraved lines and comma-shaped patterns whichmark the four limbs. Another subtlety of the carving is represented by thefact that all of the animal’s features are slightly raised above the surface ofthe jade: this creates a subtle interplay between all the details and givesthe whole composition an almost three-dimensional effect, fully manifest-ing the cleverness and the mastery of the anonymous carver.





29

DRAGON-SHAPED XILate Eastern Zhou, early Western Han, 3rd - 2nd Century BC

龍形玉觿 - 東周晚期, 西漢早期, 公元前3世紀-前2世紀

The xi or “knot-opener”, shaped as a dragon with an arched shapeand an acuminated tip, is another of the Zhou period jade formsthat continued to be carved under the Han. The example here dateto these two periods and show analogies in form but substantial dif-ferences in decoration. The features of the dragon’s head are onlyhinted at through incisions on the border, and the mouth is ren-dered with a slit which also acts as the suspension hole. Furtherimages of dragon-like creatures in different positions and guises arecarved on both sides of the jade in an almost specular manner: alto-gether, four dragon heads cover the surface of the pendant. Somedetails of their stylized bodies are clearly recognizable, such as theclaws and the necks, filled with etched patterns, while others remainmore difficult to read. The jade is whitish with some alteration, andthe remains of soil encrustations and reddish powder in areas of theincised design. This dragon-shaped xi matches a similar jade, deco-rated with a sequence of animals, in the collections of the PalaceMuseum, Beijing.





30

DRAGON-SHAPED XI OR “KNOT-OPENER”Late Eastern Zhou, early Western Han, 4th - 2nd Century BC

龍形玉觿 - 東周晚期, 西漢早期, 公元前4世紀-前2世紀

Very similar to this most finely crafted knot opener are some comparablepieces from, for example, the “Pectoral of a Concubine” (E124) from theking’s grave at Nanyue. A further piece has been reproduced as piece no.71 in the publication of the “Collector’s Exhibition of Archaic Jades” in theNational Palace Museum in Beijing. Knot openers are called xi and wereworn on the belt. This elegantly curved piece is entirely dragon-shapedand – despite its fragility – perfectly preserved. The head is lively in form,the nose and chin in the form of an anvil. The whole, smoothly curvedbody is slender and ends in a point. Along the body there are multiplecrescent features with pointed or volute-shaped tips similar in their curva-ture to the tail. A few fine lines indicate the mane. The scattered decora-tions on the smooth body of the dragon are either hook or grid-shaped.The jade’s color is a very light-green and is whitish when held up to light.

“Knot opener” did not have an utilitarian function but were rather usedas decorative pendants in composite ornaments formed by different jades,as attested by finds in Western and Eastern Zhou tombs. Xi remained inuse until the Western Han period, when they were occasionally placed inthe hands of the deceased: such is the case with Zhao Mo, the second rulerof the southern kingdom of Nanyue (2nd century BC). This xi is carved in avariety of white jade with almost no inclusions: the dragon has strong fe-line features and the body is finely detailed. A pair of very similar dragon-shaped xi, part of a five-piece set of ornaments in jade, has beendiscovered in the Nanyue tomb excavated at Guangzhou. The overall out-line and design is similar to the present Lot, but the Nanyue jades areplainer, silhouette-like and lack the fine surface details of this xi. In mu-seum collections, a similar dragon-shaped xi is in the Freer/Sackler Gal-leries, acc. no. RLS1997.48.2135. A second, very similar jade, originally inthe collection of Alfred F. Pillsbury (1869-1950), is now in the MinneapolisInstitute of Arts (acc. no. 50.46.278).





31

DRAGON-SHAPED ORNAMENTEarly Western Han Dynasty, 2nd Century BC

龍形玉飾 - 西漢早期, 徐州類型, 公元前2世紀

This masterfully crafted jade in the shape of an arched dragon represents a furtherstage in the development of the dragon imagery during the Eastern Zhou period,when the head of the mythical animal assumed pronounced feline features. Thesmall suspension hole drilled in the head area of the dragon makes it clear that thisjade carving was meant to be worn as a pendant. The body of the dragon, stronglybent and terminating in a pointed tail, is decorated with small and interconnectedincised spirals, of the type often seen on discs and rings crafted during the EasternZhou period. The tight network of spirals which covers the entire body of thedragon was created from a regular grid, designed on the surface of the jade beforeinitiating the carving process. A narrow, plain band following the border of the or-nament delimits the area of the surface decorated with the spiralling motifs. Thedragon head is finely detailed: the mouth, open to show the fangs, is topped bywhiskers made with tiny incised lines, the snout is upturned and terminates in asmall volute close to the slanting eye, which is marked by a thick line standing forthe eyebrow. A comma-shaped motif decorated with thin, parallel lines suggests atuft of hair. Just beneath the dragon body and encircled by it there is anotherdragon, carved in openwork and upside down. Its head is turned towards the backand the sinuous body is enriched with extending volutes which, in the portion ofthe openwork decoration placed in front of the small dragon, seem to assume theshape of a bird in profile. The jade is mostly of a white, transparent colour, withlight brown shades due to the presence of impurities: heavier inclusions are respon-sible for the black and grey spots near the top border and on the tail.

With the exception of a few details this pendant is very similar to the one publishedin Zacke Gallery, Archaische und Antike Jaden aus China, May - June 2010, no. 30.Both pieces closely match a similar pendant excavated in 1994 in the princely tombsdiscovered at Shizhishan, near the city of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province. Images of theexcavated pendant are published in the archaeological report, Wenwu, 1998, 8, pp.4 - 33, fig. 33:6 and no. 2 in the plate illustrating various finds from the tombs. In-scriptions in the tombs date the burials to the early years of the Western Han dy-nasty: however, in terms of design, concept and workmanship these pendants are aclear continuation of late Eastern Zhou artistic practices into the early decades ofthe Han dynasty.


WIDTH 14,9 CM長 14,9 厘米

Provenance:From an old private Austrian collection


32

TIGER-SHAPED PENDANTEarly Western Han Dynasty, 3rd - 2nd Century BC

虎形玉佩 - 西漢早期, 公元前3世紀-前2世紀

The tiger is represented in profile view but in this case the outline of the animalis less ‘compressed’ and the animal looks as if almost leaping forward, a sensa-tion stressed by the stretched body, the gentle but strongly pronounced curveof the back and by the elongated head, with the jaws open. The curling spiralsare confined to the central portion of the tiger’s body where they take on abold look: they are worked in intaglio and not in low relief and take the shapeof disconnected “C”-shaped patterns. The details enriching this plaque, such asthe striated bands near the mouth and on the rear limbs or the etched patternmarking the front legs, are more roughly executed. Altogether it seems that thecarver preferred to stress the overall outline of the plaque and the general feel-ing emanating from the image of the tiger, instead of focusing on details whichare finer and more elaborate. This pendant, beside the usual hole for suspen-sion, is provided with a number of cut-outs made in the stone – near themouth, under the body and in the tail area –, suggesting that further jadescould be hung from the plaque, as demonstrated from an excavated examplewhich is the closest comparable example to the present piece.

The excavated, comparable tiger plaque was discovered in Guangzhou in therichly furnished tomb of Zhao Mo, king of the southern kingdom of Nanyue.The plaque is part of an elaborate pectoral formed by four major jades and anumber of smaller pendants and beads. All other individuals buried in the tombwith the king – the queen, concubines and female attendants – wore similarpendants: however, the fact that the tiger plaque is found only in the king’spectoral may indicate that jades worked in such shape were reserved for malesof the highest rank. The jade has almost completely lost its original colour andtranslucency and turned brown, due to natural weathering and prolonged bur-ial. A black and white image and a drawing of the entire pectoral is publishedin Prüch, “Schätze für König Zhao Mo”, p. 129.





33

TIGER-SHAPED PENDANTEarly Western Han, 3rd - 2nd Century BC


Large plaques shaped as felines in profile and representing tigers weremade in jade from the last phase of the Warring States period into theearly years of the following Han dynasty. As described at length by JessicaRawson (“Chinese Jade”, pp. 259-262) these jade plaques, which derivefrom earlier and smaller pendants fashioned as tigers, were produced asearly as the 8th century BC. The tiger is represented in profile and the ani-mal almost looks as if it is leaping forward, an impression stressed by thestretched body, the gentle but strongly pronounced curve of the back andby the elongated head and wide-open jaws. The central portion of thetiger’s body is decorated with small incised spirals, while the haunches areornamented with comma-shaped patterns filled with finely etched, stri-ated lines. Additional volutes and linear motifs are incised on other partsof the animal’s body. The details enriching this plaque, such as the striatedbands near the mouth and rear limbs or the etched pattern marking thefront legs, are also more roughly executed. The plaque is provided with asuspension hole drilled at the top centre and there are a number of cut-outs concentrated in the bottom part of the object. These openings sug-gest the possibility that additional jades could have been hung from theplaque, as demonstrated by a similar jade excavated from the richly fur-nished tomb of Zhao Mo, king of the southern kingdom of Nanyue, inpresent-day Guangzhou. The jade is semi-translucent and of a pale, greencolour. A great deal of the surface has turned white due to natural alter-ations which have affected the jade during the prolonged burial. A similarplaque was published in Gallery Zacke, Vol. IV, October-November 2012,entry no. 30, where additional references to the plaque excavated fromthe tomb of the King of Nanyue can be found.





34

DISC WITH PATTERN OF RAISED BOSSES RUDINGEarly Western Han, 3rd - 2nd Century BC

乳丁紋玉璧 - 西漢早期, 公元前3世紀-前2世紀

This disc is carved out of a fine, white translucent jade with onlyminor but strong inclusions of iron concentrated along parts of theborder: the inclusions have turned the original colour of the stoneblack, thus creating an interesting contrast between these blackenedparts of the jade and the predominant white hue of the stone. Thedecoration, which covers both sides of the disc, is made up of tinyhexagons which are obtained by carving intersecting parallel linesacross the whole surface of the jade. The pattern thus acquires an al-most three-dimensional effect when the light hits the surface of thedisc, creating a subtle interplay within the carved motif. The jade isof very high quality and has retained its original translucency whichcan be seen at its best when it is held up to the light which filtersevenly through the object.

The disc can be compared to a similar one in the Nanjing ProvincialMuseum which was excavated in 1982 from a Han period tomb nearthe city of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province (reproduced in YangzhouMuseum, ed., “Han Guangling guo yuqi” [Jade Wares of Guangling,Han Dynasty], Beijing 2003, no. 29, p. 58). Another similar disc is pub-lished in “Gugong gu yu tu lu” (Illustrated Catalogue of AncientJade Artefacts), National Palace Museum, Taipei 1998, no. 193.


DIAMETER 13 CM直徑 13 厘米



35

TIGER-SHAPED PENDANTEarly Western Han, 3rd - 2nd Century BC


This finely crafted plaque worked in openwork with an incised decoration rep-resents the late chronological development of tiger-shaped jades which werecarved in ancient China from the 5th century BC to the Western Han dynasty.Like the previous piece, number 33, this jade is also the counterpart to famousmuseum pieces (see information below). The very memorable silhouette isabout the same in all of these pieces which, however, differ in their decoration.Since time immemorial, the tiger hu has been a symbol of manly courage andboldness, and has been considered a dispeller of demons. From its loweredhead to the powerfully formed tail, this flat jade depicts the animal in a veryhusky, muscular manner. The big head has an incised eye with a long eyelash,wide snout and a pointed horn-like protuberance: the jaw is open and theteeth are neatly carved.The contours, for example, of the head, legs, claws ortail, are intensified by engraved lines which emphasize their shape. In addition,there are isolated decorative patterns composed of pointed “C” and “S” withvolute tips. The long tail ends in volutes and a curled appendage protrudesfrom the centre of the back. The tiger’s coat is indicated by just a few lines. Theoriginal color of the jade is almost white and this tiger was produced using themost valuable white jade baiyu. The reddish brown and white spots which havedeveloped due to aging lend the tiger as a whole an interesting and stimulat-ing coloration. Very good translucence, very well preserved polish and equallygood general condition.

There are several tiger-shaped carvings in collections which can be compared tothe present one: especially noteworthy are the tigers with similar curls protrud-ing from the back which have been selected here for comparison. Two suchplaques are in the Freer/Sackler Galleries, acc. nos. F1932.43 and F1932.44.No. 108 in the publication “Radiant Stone” by Filippo Salviati is a similar, butlarger piece with a somewhat differently depicted posture. The author identi-fies it as a “mythical animal”. An even huskier tiger is no. 438 in “Ancient Chi-nese Jades”, Fogg Art Museum, Massachusetts, which is also reproduced in bothSalmony as well as Umehara’s book. A very similar piece is located in the Ameri-can Freer Gallery of Art.





36

TWO OPENWORK JADES WITH WINGED DRAGONSWestern Han Dynasty, 2nd - 1st Century BC

兩鏤空翅膀龍紋玉飾 - 西漢, 公元前2世紀-前1世紀

This pair of almost identical jade openwork plaques, one slightlylonger than the other, is carved with the motif of a winged dragonin profile. The shape of the plaques is roughly rectangular and de-limited on three sides by a narrow band incised with small doublelines carved at regular intervals. The borders of the plaques are actu-ally an extension of the long crests of the dragons, that lengthenand follow the contour of the animals’ bodies, terminating in a curlon which the dragons rest a paw. The heads have pointed ears, bigslanting eyes, an open mouth, and a long tuft of hair projectingfrom the chin. The rear legs rest on the bottom border and on thetail, as if the dragons were walking. Long wings project from theirbacks and end abruptly near the top border. The jade is of a palegreen colour with some alterations.

These jades match a similar one excavated in 1973 from a late West-ern Han tomb in the cemetery located in Ding county, Hebeiprovince. They can also be compared to a similar openwork plaquewith a tiger in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (acc.nos. 46-86). Another jade plaque, in the Freer/Sackler Galleries,Washington, D.C., is carved with a similar motif of a walkingwinged dragon within a frame (acc. no. S1987.683).


WIDTH 7,8 AND 9,4 CM寬 7,8 厘米 - 寬 9,4 厘米



37

SCABBARD SLIDE SUIWestern Han, 2nd - 1st Century BC

勾雲獸頭紋玉璲 - 西漢, 公元前2世紀-前1世紀

An excellently worked gou typical of the time, the Chinese wordmeans “hook”. Accordingly, a hook is designed at one end of theclasp to fasten a belt. Below in the center is a rectangular eyelet boxfor the band passage. Sword scabbard- or sheath-slides were used tohang the weapon from the belt and were one of the most commonaccessories used by the nobility of ancient China during the lateEastern Zhou and Han periods. The example here is representative oftwo well-known types of the Han period: they share the same form -a flat top with a slightly curved end and a rectangular loop on theback and a similar decoration. The sculptural decor on the upper sideshows a large chilong, the body is fluted and performs typical ex-alted movement. The long tail is split and has curls on the end.Amusing is the young dragon on one end. Whitish jade with lightyellow-green tone, nice translucence, yellow-brown to red-brownareas, the little chi dragon is dark. Some age characteristics, minorweathering on the edges.

The scabbard slide can be compared to many similar ones in collec-tions around the world: see for example the one in the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, New York, acc. no. 1985.214.101, or the one in theFreer/Sackler galleries, acc. no. S1987.651, carved from a similarstone. Three other similar examples are in the Samuel and MyrnaMyers collection.





38

SCABBARD CHAPE BIWestern Han, 2nd - 1st Century BC

玉劍珌 - 西漢, 公元前2世紀-前1世紀

This trapezoidal jade with the sides gently bending inwards is an-other sword ornament typical of the Han dynasty. It was used to pro-tect the tip of the iron sword which was inserted into the centralhole drilled into one of the flat extremities of the ornament. Theelliptical cross-section is typical of this type of sword ornament, asare the elegant patterns carved on both sides of the object. Thesegeometric motifs are formed by a series of “T”-shaped elements orsquare scrolls that are symmetrically organized on the surface of thechape and restricted within two clearly marked registers. The con-tour of each single element is stressed by tiny lines incised on thejade which balance the “T”-shaped elements carved in low relief,creating a subtle interplay of forms on each of the two sides. Actu-ally, these abstract motifs are two highly stylized taotie masks, whichon similar items are often represented in their entirety. The colour ofthe translucent jade is a pale celadon green: the two sides of the or-nament present signs of alteration in the form of whitish areas,while the brown patch which is visible on one of the two sides nearthe top border is generated by inclusions in the stone.

A scabbard chape decorated with a similar motif is illustrated inSalviati, Radiant Stones, no. 135. Several comparable scabbardchapes in the Freer/Sackler Galleries (acc. nos. F1939.16, S1987.491,S1987.554, S1987.854). See also the one from the Alfred F. Pillsbury(1869-1950) collection in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, acc.no.50.46.291.





39SCABBARD SLIDE SUI WITH PHOENIX AND DRAGONWestern Han, 2nd - 1st Century BC

龍鳳神獸紋玉璲 - 西漢, 公元前2世紀-前1世紀

Sword scabbard- or sheath-slides were used to hang the weaponfrom the belt and were one of the most common accessories used bythe nobility of ancient China during the late Eastern Zhou and Hanperiods. The example here is representative of two well-known typesof the Han period: they share the same form - a flat top with aslightly curved end, a rectangular loop on the back and a similar dec-oration.

This scabbard slide is worked in a more exuberant style, reminiscentof the jades discovered in the tomb of the King of Nanyue, whichhave a unique three-dimensional quality. A striding chi or hornlessdragon is carved in low relief on the top: the body is elongated and“S”-shaped and terminates in a striated tail. Another mythical, bear-like animal is carved in front of the dragon, as if it was jumping outof the jade. The head of the dragon extends beyond the top borderand is flanked on both sides by two phoenix-like birds carved inopenwork. The stone is mostly white with black and brown markingson one end.

This jade is similar in style and iconography to jades from the King ofNanyue´s tomb in Guangzhou and can also be compared to a carvingin the Harvard Art Museums which has a winding openwork dragoncarved in relief on the top (acc. no. 1943.50.398), published in YangBoda 1986, no. 146 and Loehr and Huber 1975, no. 570. See also foranother example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc.no. 1985.214.101, or the one in the Freer/Sackler galleries, acc. no.S1987.651, carved from a similar stone. Other similar examples are inthe Samuel and Myrna Myers collection, Salviati 2016, nos. 171, 172.





40

BI DISC WITH DRAGONS AND RAISED CURLSWestern Han, 2nd - 1st Century BC

龍穀紋玉璧 - 西漢, 公元前2世紀-前1世紀

This exceptionally attractive disc presents a central, circular perfora-tion and the entire surface is decorated with small raised curls, whiletwo plain bands define the inner and outer borders of the disc. Thespirals are all arranged along lines forming a regular pattern, buttheir tails are differently oriented – and in some cases joined, form-ing elegant “S”-shaped motifs – creating a sense of visual dynamismin the overall decoration. The outside of the disc is enriched withthree dragon images, equally spaced along the border: the dragonat the top is represented as standing, with a long, articulated crest,an appendage descending from the chest and a long, striated tailterminating in a phoenix head. The other two dragons placed on thecircumference and at opposite points of the disc, are instead por-trayed facing outwards, in a more dynamic and dramatic posture:their twisted bodies design a strong, emphasized “S”-shaped curve,their mouths are open as if biting the small wing-looking ap-pendages emerging from their backs, and the front and rear pawsare firmly grasping parts of the long dragon bodies enriched withvolutes. The jade has a white colour and is thoroughly translucent,excluding parts of the dragons’ bodies which exhibit a darker,brownish colouration due to inclusions in the stone. Other minortraces of surface alteration can be seen in some parts of the jade,such as in the area near the central perforation: a portion of the discnear one of the two lateral dragons also presents small iron encrus-tations on the surface, probably due to the proximity of the jadewith some metal artefacts placed near the disc in the tomb. Similardiscs can be compared to the present one: see for example the onein the British Museum, London, reproduced in Ayers and Rawson,Chinese Jades throughout the Ages, no. 97, decorated with threedragons placed on the border and presenting a pattern of smallraised dots. See also the one published in Zacke, Archaische und An-tike Jaden aus China, vol. 3 no. 33.





IMPRINT

Publisher

GALERIE ZACKE

A-1070 WIEN (VIENNA)Mariahilferstrasse 112AUSTRIA

Tel (0043-1) 532 04 52 Fax +20

E-Mail [email protected]

EditorIrene M. Zacke

Expert and textsProf. Dr. Filippo SalviatiWolfmar Zacken

PhotographyGeorg Bodenstein

DesignWolfmar Zacken

AssistanceAndrea BakerNicholas HiromuraNorbu Thondup

PrintingGröbnerDruckOberwart

Websitewww.zacke.at

© Copyright GALERIE ZACKEReproduction forbiddenErrors excepted

aukJAD 918 IMP:Layout 1 29.08.2018 16:55 Uhr Seite 1

TANG 唐

5 DYNASTIES

SONG 宋

YUAN 元

MING 明

QING 清

NEOLITHIC PERIOD新石器時代Jade-using cultures:

Hongshan 紅山Lingjiatan 凌家灘Liangzhu 良渚Shijiahe 石家河Qijia 齊家

SHANG 商

ZHOU 周Western ZhouEastern ZhouChunqiu (Spring & Autumn)Zhanguo (Warrng States)

QIN 秦

HAN 漢Western HanEastern Han

6 DYNASTIES

SUI 隋

c. 5500 - 1700

c. 4500 - 3000

c. 3600 - 3300

c. 3300 - 2200

c. 2500 - 2000

c. 2500 - 1900

1600 - 1100

1100 - 2561100 - 770770 - 220770 - 475475 - 221

221 - 206

206 BC - 220 AD206 BC - 9 AD

25 - 220

220 - 589

581 - 618

618 - 907

907 - 960

960 - 1279

1279 - 1368

1368 - 1644

1644 - 1911

MARIAHILFERSTR. 112VIENNA 7STAIRCASE 1, 2nd FLOOR (LIFT)

THE AUCTION ROOM

50 YEARS GALERIE ZACKE

Further images of all lots atwww.zacke.at


Special Auction September 29th 2018

古代及古玩玉器藝術拍賣 2018年 9月 29日

zackeVIENNA 7 MARIAHILFERSTR. 112

Archaicand Antique Chinese

Jades

zackeVIENNAsince 1968

Catalogue no. 40

www.zacke.at

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Documents

VIENNA and Antique Chinese since 1968 Jades · 2018-09-03 · and Antique Chinese Jades zacke VIENNA since 1968 Catalogue no. 40 ZACKE AUCTION ARCHAIC AND ANTIQUE CHINESE JADES SEPTEMBER