Jade. China, Late Neolithic, early Bronze Age, Longshan culture, c.2600-1900 BC玉牙璧精品 - 新石器時代晚期, 青銅時代早期,龍山文化, 約公元前 2600-1900年

DIAMETER: 9.3 CM, DIAMETER OF INNER HOLE: 4.3 CM, THICKNESS: 0.94 CM直徑 9.3 厘米，內孔直徑 4.3 厘米，厚 0.94 厘米

Notched discs form a unique category of jades crafted in late Neolithic, early Bronze Age China and are mostly associated with the Longshan culture. They are likely descended from earlier prototypes, since small circular ornaments worked in similar shapes have been discovered in sites of the Hongshan culture (c.3500-2500 BC).

This intriguing disc has an almost pinwheel shape due to the way in which the three projections with smaller notches near the tips were carved. The immediate, strong impact is due to the striking shape of the object: each of the three notches is adorned with a series of small, regular indentations that look, and feel, like teeth of a saw. No additional decorative motifs are carved on the disc, whose smooth, convex surfaces slope gently towards the inner central hole and outer perimeter.

The light green jade presents some black speckles and numerous mottled rust coloured dots throughout. The notched disc seems opaque, but when held to the light it is actually quite translucent, except for the coloured areas where the iron contained in the jade blocks the light.

Literature comparison/Archaeological sites: Notched discs with similar crenellations are in the Samuel and Myrna Myers collection, see J.P. Desroches (ed.), Two Americans in Paris. A Quest for Asian Art, Paris 2016, nos.77, 81, 83. See also F. Salviati, 4000 Years of Chinese
Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna 2017, no.94-96. Two further examples in the Harvard Art Museums, accession numbers 1943.50.530/532, are published in M. Loehr and L.G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA) 1975, nos.106-107.

Expertise: Prof. Dr. Filippo Salviati

From a Luxembourg collection盧森堡舊藏

All jades in this catalogue have been professionally examined, authenticated and described by Prof. Fillipo 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.