A WHITE AND RUSSET JADE ORNAMENT, WESTERN ZHOU

A WHITE AND RUSSET JADE ORNAMENT, WESTERN ZHOU
China, Western Zhou dynasty, 10th-9th century BC. The pendant of flattened, slightly arched form with notched edges is carved to both sides with stylized human or zoomorphic figures, the contours and details rendered with double-line grooves. A small aperture drilled to the top for suspension. The translucent stone is of an even white tone with russet veins and patches as well as a small area of opaque brownish-cream to one edge.
Condition:
Very good condition with minor wear and nibbling.
Provenance:
Estate of Wolfgang Zacke (1942-2022), co-founder of Galerie Zacke, thence by descent.
Weight: 88.2 g
Dimensions: Length 13.8 cm
Literature comparison:
The style of the present jade ornament, combining human and animal features with the contours rendered in double-line grooves, is characteristic of the Western Zhou period. A similar example depicting a phoenix and dragon and of slightly different shape is in the National Palace Museum Collection (acquisition no. gouyu 611), illustrated in Art in Quest of Heaven and Truth - Chinese Jades through the Ages, Taipei, 2012, pl. 5-4-6. Another example depicting similar motifs was excavated in Rujiazhuang, its line drawing illustrated in Teng Shu-p'ing, Collectors' Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, p. 35, pl. 30:5. A rectangular plaque depicting similar motifs is in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji 2 - Shang & Western Zhou, Shijiazhuang, 1993, pl. 242. Compare also a jade with dragon-phoenix patter, dated to the Western Zhou dynasty, in the National Palace Museum, image number C1C000645N000000000PAD.
Auction comparison:
Compare a related pale celadon jade ornament, depicting a phoenix perched atop a dragon, at Christie's Hong Kong in Chinese Archaic Jades from The Yangdetang Collection on 29 November 2017, lot 2743 (
sold for HKD 2,375,000
), and another depicting two human figures in the same auction, lot 2746 (
sold for HKD 7,060,000
).