Page 170 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings
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          A SMALL JADE CONG                          新石器時代   玉琮                                                      A WHITE-GLAZED VASE, YUHUCHUNPING           北宋至金   白釉玉壺春瓶
          NEOLITHIC PERIOD                                                                                           NORTHERN SONG – JIN DYNASTY
                                                     來源:                                                                                                         來源:
          each corner worked with three registers of animal masks, the                                               elegantly potted with a pear-shaped body supported on a short
          four corners divided by gently recessed vertical band in the   1995年前得於日本                                  splayed foot, gently tapering to a slender neck and a flared rim,   倫敦蘇富比 1987年6月19日,編號140
          centre of each side                                                                                        covered overall in a rich ivory-white glaze falling short of the   日本私人收藏
          6.3 cm, 2½ in.                                                                                             foot to reveal the crisp whitish-grey body
                                                                                                                     30.3 cm, 11¾ in.
          PROVENANCE
          Acquired in Japan prior to 1995.                                                                           PROVENANCE
                                                                                                                     Sotheby’s London, 19th June 1987, lot 140.
          Small jade cong of this form and size have been excavated                                                  A Japanese private collection.
          from various Liangzhu culture sites, such as three discovered
          from tomb M20 at Fanshan, Yuhang, Zhejiang province,                                                       A smaller bottle vase from the Jin dynasty, formerly in the
          now in the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics                                                collection of George Eumorfopoulous and now preserved in
          and Archaeology, see the exhibition catalogue Liangzhu and                                                 the British Museum, London, no. 1936,1012.26, is illustrated
          Ancient China. The 5000 Years Civilisation Demonstrated by                                                 in Shelagh J. Vainker, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain: From
          Jades, Beijing, 2019, p. 152, M20:1-3. See another jade cong                                               Prehistory to the Present, London, 1991, pp. 88-89, fig. 66.
          of slightly larger size with comparable carving technique                                                  Compare also a Northern Song Ding example of similar size
          excavated from tomb M21 demonstrating an asymmetrical                                                      and form which probably inspired this type of vases, from
          pierced circular hole, published in Liangzhu yizhi qun kaogu                                               the collections of Mr and Mrs Eugene Bernat and Manno Art
          baogao: Fanshan [Reports of the Group Sites at Liangzhu.                                                   Museum, sold in our New York rooms, 7th November 1980, lot
          Fanshan], Beijing, 2003, no. M21:4.                                                                        111, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th October 2002, lot
          Although the function of these jade cong from the Liangzhu                                                 514.
          culture long remained a mystery, they are thought to have had
          a ceremonial and possibly also a protective purpose.                                                       HK$ 400,000-600,000
                                                                                                                     US$ 52,000-77,500
          HK$ 600,000-800,000
          US$ 77,500-104,000
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