China, 25-220 AD. Each vertically pierced for suspension and incised with inscriptions on all four sides for a total of thirty-two characters. The opaque jades of celadon and pale brown tones with extensive calcification and dark gray clouding. (3)

Inscriptions: Each inscribed with auspicious wishes and other text including 'a year of good harvest', 'first month of the year', and 'the four heavenly directions'.

Provenance: From the collection of Paolo Bertuzzi, by repute acquired in the French trade. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashion company with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother's business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out together with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, small nicks, few chips which have smoothened over time. The jades with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks.

Weight: 52.4 g (total)
Dimensions: Length 3.3 cm (the largest)

Beads of this type are known as Gangmao, amulets that were popular during the Han dynasty. They were also made in other materials, including gold, and wood. The inscriptions on gangmao ranged from twenty-eight to thirty-two characters and were usually based on a thirty-four-character text meant to ward off evils. Gangmao were supposed to have been made between the hour of mao (5:00-7:00 am) on the cyclical day of mao in the first month of the year. Perhaps due to the brevity of production time, the inscriptions on gangmao are often hard to read as carvers tended to reduce the number of strokes and substitute characters.

Literature comparison:
For a gangmao of Eastern Han date see the example excavated from the tomb of Houcun, Jingxian, Hebei province, illustrated by Gu Fang, The Complete Collection of Unearthed Jades in China, vol. 1, Beijing, 2005, p. 220. Compare an Eastern Han dynasty jade Gangmao unearthed in 1972, illustrated by Yang Boda, Zhongguo yuqi quanji ['Complete collection of Chinese jades'], Hebei, 2005, p. 408, no. 274.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 15 September 2011, lot 875
Price: USD 35,000 or approx. EUR 45,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small inscribed mottled whitish jade rectangular bead, Gangmao, Eastern Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, and inscriptions. Note this lot comprises a single bead (2.5 cm).