Page 33 - Sotheby's Part I Collection of Sir Joeseph Hotung Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022

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׼ ͣ A MINIATURE WHITE JADE FIGURE OF A PHOENIX, ؇ ڡ A RETICULATED CELADON JADE 'DRAGON' PLAQUE,

͗ MING DYNASTY մ ͣ EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
ჾ depicted in flight with its head held high and wings outstretched, its plumage well detailed and finely carved, the translucent stone of ͗ the slightly curved plaque intricately reticulated with a complex and symmetrical design of a pair of stylised S-shaped animals, each

௢ an even celadon-tinged white tone with russet inclusions ீ with a sinuous body terminated in a bifurcated tail, the body detailed with interlinked C-scrolls with subtle beveling, all outlined within
3.1 cm meticulously striated borders, the reverse undecorated and pierced with four small diagonal perforations
ᎉ 4.8 by 5 cm
PROVENANCE Ը๕j ᕐ
Chung Wah Pui, Hong Kong, 6th July 1993. ᒤശ੃d࠰ಥd1993ϋ7˜6˚ PROVENANCE Ը๕j
EXHIBITED ࢝ᚎj Ꮂ Christie's New York, 2nd December 1985, lot 50. ॲߒԳɻ੻1985ϋ12˜2˚dᇜ໮50
British Museum, London, on loan, 1995. ɽߵ௹ي᎜dࡐ౱d࠾࢝d1995ϋ ७ EXHIBITED ࢝ᚎj
Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, ུ British Museum, London, on loan, 1995.
1996. ʕ਷ӽ͛͗ᎉ‘d࠰ಥᖵஔ᎜d࠰ಥd1996ϋ LITERATURE ɽߵ௹ي᎜dࡐ౱d࠾࢝d1995ϋ
̈وj ̈وj
LITERATURE Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing,
Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, ᖯಌdChinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing‘d London, 1995, pl. 17:14. ᖯಌdChinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing‘d
London, 1995, pl. 25:10. ࡐ౱d1995ϋdྡو25:10 ࡐ౱d1995ϋdྡو17:14
Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. no. 82. ʕ਷ӽ͛͗ᎉ‘d࠰ಥd1996ϋdᇜ໮82 HK$ 150,000-200,000
US$ 19,200-25,500
HK$ 30,000-50,000
US$ 3,850-6,400

Ingeniously designed, the openwork plaque depicts a pair of dragons A similar double-dragon plaque was discovered in Luoyang and
with their dynamic bodies leaning back to back. The effect of the play published in 'Luoyang xijiao yihao zhanguo mu fajue ji [Excavcation
of light through the jade is enhanced by the striated borders and the report of the Warring States tomb no. 1 in the western suburbs of
subtlety bevelled interlinked scrolls. The curvature and perforations Luoyang]', Kaogu / Archaeology, 1959, no. 12, pp. 653-7, pl. 3, no. 8.
of the present plaque suggest that it was made for attachment to
some other material (Rawson, ibid., p. 272).

64 I FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING ༉းྡ፽ʫ࢙ሗᓭᚎ SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1293 THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE LATE SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG I 65