Jade. China, late West. Zhou, approx. 9th to 8th cent.


This pendant or ring worked in openwork is shaped as a human head in profile, with a long body recalling that of a dragon which extends from the head forming a loop: the tip of the tail joins the hair of the human head, marked by incised, parallel lines. The features of the face are clearly rendered: the round eye is recessed and encased between two pointed tips, the nose is bulging, the mouth has pronounced lips and the chin is pointed. An incised line marks the point of separation between the head and the body of the figure which is decorated with long, incised and regularly spaced curls.

The jade used to carve the ring is of very high quality: it is mostly white in colour and translucent, with no signs of impurities, with the exception of the area of the human head where the stone gets darker and the colour fades from brown to black, and additional reddish patches on the tip of the nose and on the lips.

From the point of view of style and carving technique, this ornament may be assigned to the late Western Zhou period: the type of jade and quality of the carving are also similar to Lot AK616-106 in this auction. However, the closest match to this type of design is seen on two similar rings carved with the same motif discovered in an early Eastern Zhou period tomb located near present-day Xinyang in Henan Province: the tomb dates to the 7th century BC and belongs to a lord of the Huang state and his wife. The excavated rings are made of an inferior quality of jade and are slightly smaller, measuring only 3.8 cm in diameter. They are reproduced in Yang Boda, Zhongguo meishu quanji: yuqi 中国美术全集:玉器 (Chinese works of art series: jade) vol.9, Beijing 1986, no.94 and in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London 1995, fig.3 p.201. The human figure is rarely represented in jades of the Western Zhou period: its occasional usage was likely prompted by late Neolithic jades carved with human faces which have been discovered amongst the jades placed in the tombs of the late Western and early Eastern Zhou nobles, such as in the case of the Huang lords mentioned above.
神獸頭紋玉護身符。中國，西周代晚期，約公元前9至8世紀。直徑8.4厘米，厚0.48 厘米。

HEIGHT 8,4 CM, THICKNESS UP TO 4,8 MM
From a German collection



Jades nos. 92 - 121 were examined by Univ. Prof. Filippo Salviati, declared to be authentic and dated by critical evaluation of their origin.
Salviati is a professor of Chinese art at the oriental faculty of the university „La Sapienza“ in Rome and one of the most renowned experts in the field of jades worldwide, specialized in archaic jades of all eras up to the Song dynasty. All images of jades on our website can be enlarged to high detail. Work by hand, signs of age, weathering and colour can be recognized in these images.
奧匈帝國舊藏。古玉由意大利 Filippo Salviati 教授鑑定。Salviati 教授是羅馬大學中國美術專家，世界上最出名的雕玉藝術專家之一。他的專業是商代一直到宋代的古玉。我會網上的古玉都可以方大，看的到最微小的細節，正如手工，年代，顏色等。