Jade, China. Early Western Han, 3rd-2nd cent. BC

雙首龍玉環。中國，西漢代早期，公元前2世紀。寬12.8厘米，高6.6厘米，厚約0.5厘米。維也納私人舊藏。

COUNTERPIECE TO THE PECTORAL DRAGON AMULET FOUND IN THE KING’S TOMB IN NANYUE. A complete, large decorative necklace from the famous burial site of the king of Nanyue has been reproduced in the publication listed below. The uppermost piece in this necklace (pectoral E 143-9) is very similar to this piece in terms of its form as a whole, the dragon heads and the decorative elements in between them. The surface of the twisting body, however, has a different form and the royal comparative example is somewhat smaller (L: 10.2 cm). What this jade does not have is an eyelet. Thus, it may be assumed that this decorative piece was simply laid on the chest. The dragon heads are very ferocious in design; the nose, chin and ears are very pointed and fine and some of them have partially curled tips – the precision is highly astonishing. The two dragons share a body, which curls in the shape of an oval and has two rudimentary volutes, but is otherwise smooth and even in its shape. Both sides of the oval, that is, the dragon’s body, are decorated with a very finely carved composition of curved lines with volute ends, between which are scattered grid patterns.

In the case of the comparative example, the decorative element between the dragons is clearly a mask and is described as the “stylized mask of a monster”. Here, however, the element is more decorative, even if the form is completely the same. This piece, which probably comes from a prince’s grave, has a generally finer and a more nuanced, noble appearance, and is also better preserved. The jade’s color is a light yellow-green which has become mostly whitish due to aging. The old polish, however, once very finely finished, remains optimally preserved. The entire piece is consistently translucent. In any case, this jade is particularly rare, exceptional collector’s item. A very similar comparative piece has been published in “Jades from the Tomb of the King of Nanyue”, University of Hong Kong, no. 134; in “Chinese Jade – The Spiritual and Cultural Significance of Jade in China” as well as other, further publications such as that of Salmony …

This jade will be published in FILIPPO SALVIATI: “THE MYSTERIOUS STONE: Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Han in private collections” (date of publication spring 2017).

Notes by Prof. Salviati: This delicate openwork pendant is carved in the shape of two rampant, confronted feline-looking dragons that share the same arched body: the heads and front limbs of the animals are framed by the body which is engraved with finely incised volutes filled with an etched checker board motif. The dragons are separated by an apparently abstract pattern which, in reality, is a highly stylized taotie-type mask with a bulging nose, incised scrolls standing for the eyes, side ears or horns, an open, split jaw and a crown-like protuberance on top. Two symmetrical curls extend from the sides of the pendant: they recall the similar stylized wing-like appendage carved on the back of the tiger-shaped plaque. The jade is semi-translucent and pale yellow in colour with white altered areas, minor traces of natural surface corrosion in the heads of the dragons and soil encrustations that are mostly concentrated along the sides of the cut-outs. Once again, the closest comparable example to this finely crafted pendant is offered by a similarly shaped jade discovered in the 2nd century BC tomb of King Zhao Mo of Nanyue, in Guangzhou. The comparable carving is the top element of a pectoral, formed by nine jades and beads strung together, that was placed in the burial of Zhao Mo’s wife, known as the “Lady of the Right”. The overall scheme is similar but the excavated jade differs from the present one only in some details of the decoration: the arched body of the dragon is filled with a dense pattern of raised scrolls, the taotie-like masks between the dragons have more clearly delineated eyes and the curls on the sides are carved at different points, not on the same level as the carving shown here. The jade ornament from the Nanyue tomb is reproduced in Yang Xiaoneng (ed.), The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology. Celebrated Discoveries from The People`s Republic of China, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1999, no.145. Prior to the discovery of the Nanyue tomb, we knew of only one other similar pendant, shaped as two confronting dragons but without the stylized taotie mask placed between them. The pendant is part of an assemblage of jades strung together with a gold chain which was acquired in 1930 by the Freer Gallery and reputedly excavated at Jincun, near Luoyang, in Henan province (Freer/Sackler Galleries, acc. no.F1930.27a-k): http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/object.php?q=fsg_F1930.27a-k.

WIDTH 12.8 CM, HEIGHT 6.6 CM, THICKNESS CA. 5 MM

From a Viennese collection



Expertise: Wolfmar Zacken (description) & Fillipo Salviati (dating and expertise)