Jade. China, Eastern Zhou, late Spring and Autumn period, 5th century BC龍頭紋玉玦 - 東周春秋時代晚期, 公元前5世紀

Length: 3.5 cm長 3.5 厘米

This ornamental jade, most likely an earring, is carved in the shape of a short tubular bead, with a neat slit cut into the stone and a hole drilled throughout the length of the jade. The shape recalls that of the Neolithic slit-rings known as jue玦, from which this Eastern Zhou version, thicker and more tubular-like, is derived. Although it has the same basic circular shape of earlier slit-rings, this type of jue takes on a more three-dimensional, sculptural quality.

The jue is decorated with a pattern of eight stylized dragon heads in profile carved within two registers: one register contains a row of four dragon heads oriented in the same direction, while the row with the other four dragon heads mirrors the image. The flat top and bottom ends of the jue are decorated with incised curls. The ornament was carved from white jade that is almost entirely calcified, with many amber incrustations along the carved areas.

Literature comparison/Archaeological sites: A pair of similar jue decorated with the same pattern of dragon heads and curls incised on the borders has been discovered in Spring and Autumn period tombs at Liulige (Hui county, Henan province): they are reproduced in J. Johnston, and Chan Lai Pik, 5,000 Years of Chinese Jade, featuring selections from the National Museum of History, Taiwan, and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, San Antonio Museum of Art, 2011, no.32. Two more comparable examples are in the British Museum and are reproduced in J. Rawson, Chinese Jade. From the Neolithic to the Qing, London 1995, fig.1, p.243.

Expertise: Prof. Dr. Filippo Salviati

From an Austrian collection奧地利老佔有

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.