A SMALL JADE ‘DRAGON HEAD’ PENDANT, WARRING STATES PERIOD
China, 475-221 BC. Carved in the form of a powerful dragon head profile, the pendant has a single aperture drilled through the nose of the creature for suspension. The dragon with stylized curls and an open mouth finely incised. The smooth, partly translucent stone is of a pale green hue with russet inclusions and milky-white calcification throughout.


Provenance:
Collection of Harry Geoffrey Beasley and thence by descent to his widow Irene Beasley. Collection of Alfred William Cowperthwaite, 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:
Very good condition, commensurate with age, with expected wear and weathering. Some small nicks which have smoothened over time. The stone with inclusions and natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks with time. Note that this was most likely once the top of a Huang, which broke to pieces, and has since been repurposed, probably already in ancient times.

Weight: 3.1 g
Dimensions: Width 2.4 cm


Literature comparison:

Compare a related ‘dragon head’ jade pendant, Huang, at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2021, lot 2737. Compare the related dragon head with an identical aperture through the nose, 9.6 cm long, dated to the Warring States period, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F1931.16.




戰國時期龍首玉飾

中國，西元前475-221 年。該吊墜成龍首形，龍的鼻子上鑽有一個孔，用於懸掛。鬃毛捲曲，大嘴張開，雕刻精美。 表面光滑，部分半透明，呈淡綠色，帶有黃褐色內沁和乳白色鈣化。


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：
狀況極好，有磨損和風化。一些小劃痕隨著時間的推移已經變得平滑。玉石帶有内沁和天然裂縫，其中一些隨著時間的推移發展成細小的裂縫。請注意，這很可能曾經是玉璜的頂部，璜的頂部破裂成碎片，後來被重新利用。

重量：3.1 克
尺寸：寬 2.4 厘米


文獻比較:

比較一件相近的龍首玉飾，見香港佳士得，2021年12月3日，lot 2737。比較相近的戰國時期龍首玉飾，鼻子上有幾乎相同的穿孔，長9.6 厘米，收藏於史密森學會國立亞洲藝術博物館，館藏編號F1931.16。