Jade. China, Late Western Zhou, 10th - 9th century BC 束絹形玉佩 - 西周晚期, 公元前10世紀–前9世紀 The shape of this interesting Western Zhou ornament is described in Chinese as shujuan 束絹 or “tied bundle”: it has a slightly curved surface and an undecorated smooth flat back. The centre of the object is marked by two groups of carved raised bands whose side edges form regularly-spaced notches. The top and bottom have a crown-like outline with three protuberances whose contour is marked with grooves. The central extensions have a pointed tip, while the other four projections are drilled with slanted holes that allowed for strings to pass so that the ornament could be attached to other elements. The jade, once light green in color is now crossed with various areas of white and brown, especially around the edges. The object is polished, but rather opaque and somewhat rough due to the alterations of the stone. During the late Western Zhou period, these ornamental jades were strung with beads to form necklaces: see for example the one excavated from tomb no.2012 of the Guo State at Sanmenxia, Henan province, adorned with six jades of the “tied bundle” type. One of them is reproduced in Gu Fang, Zhongguo gu yuqi tu dian 中國古玉器圖典 (The pictorial handbook of ancient Chinese jades), Beijing 2007, p.171. Two such jades are also in the Art Institute, Chicago (accession nos. 1950.685/6) and are published in A. Salmony, Archaic Chinese Jades from the Edward and Louise B. Sonnenschein Collection, Chicago 1952, pl.88 nos.12 and 13. Another pair of similarly shaped plaques in the Harvard Art Museums (accession number 1943.50.183) is reproduced in M. Loehr and L.G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge 1975, no.381. Finally, five similar jades were presented by the J.J. Lally & Co. gallery in their New York exhibition Ancient Chinese Jade. From the Neolithic to the Han, 2016, cat. no.36. Provenance: From an old Austrian collection HEIGHT 5.2 CM - WIDTH 2.2 CM 高5.2 厘米 -寬2.2 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.