Jade. China, Eastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn period, 5th - 4th century BC 龍形玉佩 - 東周, 春秋, 公元前5世紀-前4世紀 This adorable little dragon-shaped pendant has a very simple crescent shape with a blunt truncated side representing the face and a pointed tip for the tail. Notches located on the upper and lower curve of the object define the head and snout area, while a tiny hole and an additional notch represent the mouth. The body is decorated with a seemingly random pattern of differently oriented scrolls on both sides, while the contour has been left unadorned and is polished to a high lustre. A great deal of one side of the light green, translucent jade is heavily encrusted with beige, brown and reddish striations with some blackened areas. The altered areas are opaque and rough, and the edge of the upper curve of the body seems to have chipped a bit. A similar Eastern Zhou dragon-shaped pendant was excavated from tomb 1 of the Zhongshan state near the city of Baoding, in Hebei province: it 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.225. Provenance: From an old Austrian collection LENGTH 4.3.CM - WIDTH 2 CM 長4.3 厘米 -寬 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.