Page 68 - Sotheby's Part II Collection of Sir Joeseph Hotung Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022

17
؇ ͗ A JADE ANIMAL-SHAPED PLAQUE,
մ ๿ LATE EASTERN ZHOU - WESTERN HAN DYNASTY,
͋ ᖕ 3RD - 2ND CENTURY BC

Ї भ worked in the form of a beast with an undulating silhouette, the head of the beast portrayed bent downwards, rendered with a
Г ུ prominent and broad snout ending in an arc-shaped tip, the muscular body terminating in a bifurcated tail, incised on the narrow edge
ဏ with three undeciphered characters
14.8 by 6.9 by 0.5 cm
ʮ
PROVENANCE Ը๕j
ʩ Artistic Sources Arts Co., Hong Kong, 5th August 1992. ᖵ๕ტd࠰ಥd1992ϋ8˜5˚
ۃ EXHIBITED ࢝ᚎj
ɧ British Museum, London, on loan, 1995 and 2002-15. ɽߵ௹ي᎜dࡐ౱d࠾࢝d1995ʿ2002-15ϋ
LITERATURE
Ї ̈وj
Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing,
ɚ London, 1995, pl. 17:13. ᖯಌdChinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing‘d
ࡐ౱d1995ϋdྡو17:13
˰ HK$ 800,000-1,200,000
ߏ US$ 102,000-153,000

The present piece, ingeniously modelled as a fantastic horned See three comparable pairs of 'tiger plaques' with rhinoceros
animal in profile, is a tour de force of jade craftsmanship of the late features: a larger pair in the Cleveland Museum of Art, detailed with
Eastern Zhou dynasty. It captures the power of the animal through raised bosses on the bodies and stylised dragons on their haunches,
its large head, strong fangs, and powerful legs terminating in sharp is published in J. Keith Wilson, 'A Pair of Chinese Jade Plaques', The
claws. Through dynamic contours, meticulously incised curves and Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 80, no. 4, April 1993, pp.
subtle bevelling, the artisan transformed the thin jade plaque and 127-30, cover and fig. 1; another pair, also with raised swirls, reputedly
successfully portrayed the muscularity of the beast. from Jincun, Luoyang, Henan province, in the Freer Gallery of Art,
Washington D.C., is included in the exhibition Chinese Art of the
It belongs to a fascinating group of exquisitely carved and finely Warring States Period. Change and Continuity, 480-222 B.C., Freer
polished animal plaques made in the Eastern Zhou period. These Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982, cat. no. 96; and the third
plaques were part of larger ornamental assemblages that included pair of swirl-decorated plaques from the Winthrop collection in the
numerous pendants connected by a silk rope and suspended from Harvard Art Museum is illustrated in Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese
a belt worn on or above the waist. While they have been recovered Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art
in burial contexts, they were not considered tomb goods but rather Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1975, pl. 438. A
treasured personal belongings that the deceased would have worn further single jade plaque, much larger in size and its body detailed
in his lifetime. When walking, the plaques would gently knock each with swirls and zoomorphic motifs, similarly inscribed on the edge
other, producing a tinkling sound that "signified physical and moral with two characters, formerly in the collection of Charles Vignier,
elegance and restraint, admired qualities in Confucian circles" (Jenny was sold in these rooms, 3rd April 2019, lot 3620, from the Sam and
F. So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Myrna Myers collection.
2019, pp. 188-9).
A smaller arced jade pendant in the shape of a rhinoceros with bosses
This type of jade ornaments is generally referred to as 'tiger plaques'. was excavated from the tomb of Zhao Mo, who ruled from 137-122
With a horn on its forehead, a broad arc-shaped snout and a bulging BC, during the Western Han dynasty, as King of Nanyue in the far
neck, Regina Krahl argued that such an animal "differs markedly south; see Zhongguo chutu yuqi quanji/The Complete Collection of
from the usual depictions of tigers and dragons" but shows the Jades Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2005, vol. 11, pls 81 and 123.
characteristics of rhinoceros ('The Vignier Jade Pendant: A 'Tiger
Plaque' with Rhinoceros Features', Important Chinese Art, Sotheby's,
Hong Kong, 3rd April 2019, lot 3620).

Inscription
თ˖

134 I FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING ༉းྡ፽ʫ࢙ሗᓭᚎ SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1292