China, circa 3300-2200 BC. The flattened pendant neatly incised to one side with a mask with bulging eyes at the center and two apertures to the edges for suspension. The translucent stone of a soft cream-white color with extensive calcification.

Provenance: From a Czech private collection.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear and weathering, as expected. The stone with natural inclusions and fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks over time.

Weight: 54.9 g
Dimensions: Length 9.2 cm

Huang were a part of the elite adornments during the Neolithic period, especially within Hongshan, Liangzhu, and Longshan cultures. These were worn along with headgear, knee decorations, elaborate beaded necklaces, and other body ornaments, all made primarily from jade. Dr. Elizabeth Childs-Johnson dubs these cultures a part of the 'Jade Age', a period during which an abundance of jade objects accompanied the elite burials for the first time. The imagery carved on these jade adornments was highly standardized, and the most prominent image, which appears on this lot, is that of the godhead (also called a spirit person, shenren, or an anthropomorphized deity). This image is flat, often covered in cosmic cloud scrolls, and has zoomorphic attributes combining bird and semi-human elements.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related jade huang from the Liangzhu culture in the Ancient Chinese Jade Gallery of the Shanghai Museum. Compare a related jade huang from the Liangzhu culture included in the jade relics exhibition of the Dawenkou, Longshan, and Liangzhu cultures at the Shandong Museum, Jinan, in 2014. Compare a related jade ornament with a mask design, dated mid-3rd millennium BC, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 18.63.