Jade. China, Eastern Zhou, 5th - 4th century BC 龍形玉佩- 東周, 公元前5世紀-前4世紀 The design of this seemingly abstract ornament is actually an intricate pattern of two symmetrically placed dragons whose sinuous bodies curve, curl and meet along the central axis. Their heads, with upturned curled snouts, are located on the sides of the ornament and delicately rendered with simple lines, while the bodies are decorated with double-incised lines, curls, circles, scrolls and some etched areas. Squared and curled appendages protrude from the bodies of the dragons, whereas their trifurcated tails meet at the top centre. The lovely translucent celadon green jade is almost completely free of inclusions, except for some tiny points of brown: there is noticeable alteration on one half of the jade´s surface. A similar openwork ornament was discovered in 1985 in an Eastern Zhou tomb in Ye county, Henan province: it is reproduced in Yang Boda (ed.), Zhongguo yuqi quanji: 3, Chunqiu Zhanguo 中国玉器全集/3/春秋战国 (Chinese Jades: 3, Spring and Autumn and Warring States), Hebei 1993, no.159. See also Gu Fang, Zhongguo gu yuqi tu dian 中國古玉器圖典 (The pictorial handbook of ancient Chinese jades), Beijing 2007, p.187. Compare also two pendants of the same period carved in a similar style that were auctioned at Galerie Zacke on 29 September 2017, cat. no.32, and 10 March 2018, cat. no.24. Provenance: From an old Austrian collection LENGTH 7.1CM - WIDTH 3.5 CM 長7.1 厘米 -寬3.5 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.