Page 107 - JJ Lally Ancient Chinese Jades, 1988

94. An Archaic Jade Cup with Incised Decoration
Late Spring and Autumn Period, 6th–5th Century B.C.
of tall cylindrical form, the straight sides very evenly worked and smoothly polished, with a thin
turquoise disc inset as the base, cut through the side with a pair of small rectangular slots to
receive a handle now lost, finely incised with a complex repeating pattern of interlocking oblique
lines and tightly curled scroll motifs interspersed with oval ‘dragon eyes’ all over the exterior, the
interior plain and softly polished, the onion green translucent stone of even tone with scattered
cloudy buff spots of alteration from long burial.
Height 5 inches (12.8 cm)

The distinctive incised linear pattern on this cup is associated with the Qin State during the late Spring and Autumn period.
Compare, for example, fragments of a jade cong incised with a very similar pattern, excavated in 1986 from tomb no. 1
of the Duke of Qin at Nanzhihui village, Fengxiang county, Shaanxi province, illustrated in Shaanxi chutu Dong Zhou yuqi
(Eastern Zhou Jades Unearthed in Shaanxi), Beijing, 2006, p. 79.

݆߇ૉಂcॢόᎲ७͗؎c৷ 12.8᩶Ϸ

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