Jade. China, Late Shang dynasty, 13th - 11th century BC 兩有領玉環, 玉環 - 商代晚期, 公元前13世紀-前11世紀 This interesting group is comprised of two collared discs and one small plain ring. Collared rings owe their name to the fact that the border of the central perforation extends to both sides, thus creating a ridge or collar. They form a particular category in the jade repertory of ancient China, mostly attested during the late Shang period. The two collared rings in this group are flat and slightly irregular in width, while the sides of the smaller ring slope outwards towards the outer rim. The three jades are heavily encrusted with numerous brown and black lines and spots throughout: they are rough to the touch and have many chips, mostly on the external borders, some of which reveal a whiter colour of the stone. The two discs and the ring are extraordinary examples of how deceiving appearances can be: contrary to their dull physical presentation, when struck, the jades emit the most amazingly beautiful and crystalline sounds. A similar disc in whitish jade with a low collar around the centre and a diameter of 17.7 cm is in the Freer/Sackler Galleries of Art, Washington D.C. (accession number S1987.647). Compare also a collared disc from the David David-Weill (1871-1952) collection auctioned at Sotheby’s Paris on 16 December 2015, lot no.18 (sale number PF1537). Two more similar discs are in the Harvard Art Museums, accession numbers 1943.50.533 and 536, and published in M. Loehr and L.G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge 1975, nos.100 and 101, respectively. See also the collared discs published in F. Salviati, 4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna 2017, nos.153-156. Provenance: From a German collection DIAMETER 6.5 CM - HOLE 3.5 CM;DIAMETER 13.7 CM - HOLE 6.1 CM; DIAMETER 19.5 CM - HOLE 6.4 CM; 直径 6.5 厘米 - 孔徑 3.5 厘米; 直径 13.7 厘米 - 孔徑 6.1 厘米;直径 19.5 厘米 - 孔徑 6.4 厘米 Expertise: Univ. Prof. Filippo Salviati All jades in this catalogue have been professionally examined, authenticated and dated by Univ. Prof. Filippo Salviati. Professor Salviati teaches Chinese and Korean art at Sapienza University in Rome, in the Italian Institute of Oriental Studies. He is a world expert on archaic Chinese jades, having released multiple publications and being cited by renowned auction houses such as Sotheby’s.