Chinese Works of ArtTHREE-SECTION DISC
Jade
China, Early Bronze Age, Qijia culture, c. 2200-1600 BC

三節玉璧- 青銅器時代早期, 齊家文化, 公元前2200-1600

Instead of being carved from a single piece of jade, this disc is actually formed by three arched segments, probably sliced from the same block of raw material. Each arched segment has both ends drilled with one and two holes, respectively: when the three segments are joined together to form a disc, the ends with one hole match those drilled with two. Such composite discs, formed by two to four segments and of varying dimensions, have been found in several burials of the Qijia culture, which developed in North-west China, and represent one of the most characteristic type of jades of this late Neolithic culture. Qijia sites which have yielded three-section discs like the present one include Zhaocun, in Tianshuishi, Gansu province, and Minhelajia, in Qinghai province. Here, tomb M17 has yielded two examples of such discs: in the first instance the three segments have been found buried in the soil and composed in the shape of the disc, while in the second the three portions were stacked one upon the other. This suggests that these peculiar items were either composed in a single shape or used independently as ornaments.

The jade is of good quality, mostly creamy white and translucent, with patches of light yellow colour and darker veins and speckles. A disc carved from a somewhat similar type of jade and from Gallery Zacke can be seen at this link: http://www.zacke.at/en/item/16965/large-bi-disk A similar three-part disc of smaller size and in green jade, part of the Robert H. Ellsworth collection, was auctioned at Christie’s New York on 19 March 2015, Lot 505.

This pendant is published in Filippo Salviati 4000 YEARS OF CHINESE ARCHAIC JADES Edition Zacke, Vienna 2017, no. 123

Provenance: From an Italian private collection

DIAMETER 17.5 CM 直徑17.5 厘米