China, 475-221 BC. Of flattened form, carved as a sinuous single-horned dragon with the head turned back, the body finely detailed to each side with neatly incised scroll designs, the mouth pierced with an aperture for suspension. The translucent stone of an even pale celadon tone with areas of calcification.

Provenance: From an old private collection in southern Germany, further supplemented by inheritances during the 1950s, and acquisitions between the 1960s and 1980s, thence by descent in the same family.
Condition: Fine condition with significant old wear, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, minor nibbling, and calcification. The stones with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into minor hairlines.

Weight: 19.2 g
Dimensions: Length 6.9 cm

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related jade pendant in the form of a dragon, dated 500-400 BC, 10.2 cm long, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, accession number FE.27-1973. Compare a related pale celadon jade dragon pendant, dated to the Warring States period, 7 cm long, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S1987.851.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2021, lot 2716
Price: HKD 750,000 or approx. EUR 92,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A jade 'dragon and phoenix' pendant, Late Warring states period, circa 300-221 BC
Expert remark: Compare the related form and lined border. Note the larger size (16.3 cm) and color of the jade.