A JADE ‘BIRD’ PENDANT, LATE SHANG TO WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
China, 11th-8th century BC. The thick flattened plaque finely carved in the form of a recumbent bird in profile, detailed with incised feathers, sharp beak with pierced aperture for suspension, and round eyes. Opaque stone of a mottled greenish-brown tone with russet veins.


Provenance:
Collection of Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) and thence by descent to his widow Irene Beasley. Collection of Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964), acquired from the above c. 1939 and thence by descent in the same family. Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) was a British anthropologist and museum curator who developed an important ethnographic collection during the early 20th century that is now held in various British museums. With his wife Irene, Beasley set up the Cranmore Ethnographical Museum which eventually held more than 6,000 objects of ethnographical interest. The Beasleys collected objects from across Europe, buying from auction houses and local museums to expand the collection, which contained material from the Pacific, Asia, Africa, and Northwestern America. Beasley wrote numerous articles for anthropological journals and was considered an expert in his field. He died in 1939 and his collection was stored with the British Museum collections during the war, which was fortunate, as the Cranmore Museum was destroyed by bombing. After the war, substantial portions of the collection were passed to the British Museum, the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the University of Cambridge, the Pitt Rivers Museum, and the Merseyside County Museum. Other pieces, such as the present lot, were sold by his widow and, after her death in 1974, by their daughters. Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964) was a contributor to the Cranmore Museum and became good friends with Harry Beasley. Shortly after Harry Beasley’s death, he acquired a number of objects from Irene Beasley, including the present lot.

Condition:
Good condition with expected old wear, minuscule nibbling, small losses, tiny nicks, minor signs of weathering and erosion.

Weight: 8.6 g
Dimensions: Length 4.6 cm


Literature comparison:

Compare a related jade bird, dated to the Western Zhou dynasty, 5.1 cm long, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 50.46.247. Compare a related jade bird pendant, dated to the Western Zhou dynasty, 4.3 cm long, in the British Museum, registration number 2022,3034.111.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 April 2019, lot 3446
Price: HKD 75,000 or approx.
EUR 9,500
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A celadon jade ‘bird’ plaque, Shang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form and incision work. Note the smaller size (4.7 cm).




商末至西周鳥形玉飾

中國，公元前十一至八世紀。呈扁片狀，以陰刻線技法雕琢臥鳥側面造型，圓圓的眼睛、尖喙和用於懸掛的穿孔。不透明玉料，局部淺褐色沁與赤褐色紋理。


來源：
Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939)收藏，他逝世後由其遺孀Irene Beasley保存；Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964)，約於1939年購於上述收藏，之後在同一家族保存至今。Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) 是一位英國人類學家和博物館館長，他在二十世紀初建立了一個重要的民族志收藏，現在收藏在英國的各個博物館中。Beasley和他的妻子Irene一起建立了Cranmore民族志博物館，該博物館最終收藏了 6,000 多件民族志方面的物品。Beasley 收集了來自歐洲各地的物品，從拍賣行和當地博物館購買以擴大收藏範圍，其中包含來自太平洋、亞洲、非洲和美國西北部的資料。Beasley為人類學期刊撰寫了大量文章，被公認爲是該領域的專家。他於 1939 年去世，他的藏品幸虧在戰爭期間被存放在大英博物館裏，而Cranmore博物館被轟炸摧毀。戰後，大部分藏品被轉移到大英博物館、愛丁堡皇家博物館、劍橋大學考古與人類學博物館、Pitt Rivers博物館和Merseyside County博物館。其他收藏，例如現在的拍品，由他的遺孀出售，在她 1974 年去世後，由他們的女兒出售。Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964) 曾是Cranmore 民族志博物館重要支持人，也曾是 Harry Beasley的好友。在Harry Beasley去世不久，他從Irene Beasley 處購買了一些收藏，包括此件拍品。

品相：
狀況良好，有磨損、微小的磕損和刻痕，輕微的風化。

重量：8.6 克
尺寸：長 4.6厘米


文獻比較：

比較一件相近的西周鳥形玉飾，長5.1 厘米，收藏於明尼阿波利斯美術館，收藏編號50.46.247。比較一件相近西周鳥形玉飾，長4.3 厘米，收藏於大英博物館，收藏編號2022,3034.111。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：相近
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2019年4月2日，lot 3446
價格：HKD 75,000（相當於今日
EUR 9,500
）
描述：商代青玉鳥珮
專家評論：比較相近的外形和陰刻技巧。請注意尺寸較小(4.7厘米)。