Lot 80A
East Asia, China, Neolithic period, Shang Dynasty, ca. 16th to 11th century BCE. A fantastical rust-colored brown and olive green jadeite attachment, with three large loops and a janus-headed, avian-faced zoomorphic design. Heads on either end look like stylized ducks, with upturned beaks and huge, round eyes. Both heads have two long grooves down their backs. Between them, the three rings form finger-sized holes. On their upper side are three curves; on their lower side is a deep groove, drilled through near either end to allow attachment. Size: 6.25" W x 2.7" H (15.9 cm x 6.9 cm)
During the Shang dynasty, members of the royalty were accompanied in the afterlife by their bronzes, ceramics, weapons, amulets, and ornaments, and even the human and animal entourage that surrounded them in life. Jade items like this one formed part of the decoration of these tombs, and seem to have been reserved for the most elite people in society. Jade was the most valuable item known to the Neolithic Chinese, and was associated with the most important rituals of life. Yu, the Chinese word for jade, is also an idea - of a steadfastness, and reliability, mirrored in the abrasion techniques required to make these intricate works of art. Yu is also not bound by the mineralogical definition of jade - over the millennia that it has been carved in China, the people have had varying access to sources of jade and nephrite - but is rather a wider term for hard stone. Bird forms seem to have had great symbolic meaning in Neolithic China, perhaps because the ability to fly made them seem closer to heaven.
Provenance: private Eason Eige Collection, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
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#131188
- Condition: Surface wear and pitting, with a surface crack around one of the heads.
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