Page 32 - Sothebys HK Dragon Emperor April 2024

As noted by Jessica Rawson, large jade blades such as the
此牙璋尺寸寬碩，為大維威爾舊藏；據羅森所述，璋
present example from the David-Weill Collection have no 於新石器時代玉器中未見雛形，其源頭仍待考證，詳
prototypes among the stone implements of the Neolithic 見羅森，《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》
period and the source of this shape remains unknown, see
Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, ，倫敦，1995年，頁188。凡璋者皆打磨細膩、薄巧
London, 1995, p. 188. Blades of this form are often of large 輕靈，乃知用作禮器，亦可彰示權力。
size and are extremely finely and thinly carved suggesting
a ceremonial function. They have also been described as 二里頭文化時期，此類玉器多見於中原城址，流布
sceptres. 甚廣，主要集中於陝西神木石峁及四川廣漢兩地，
While this blade type flourished in metropolitan China 見楊伯達，〈Jade Zhang in the Collection of the Palace
during the Erlitou period, the distribution of this blade type Museum, Beijing〉，《Chinese Jade. Selected Articles
is surprisingly wide yet focusing on two principal sources, from Orientations 1983-1996》，頁141-146，及羅森，
Shenmu Shimao in Shaanxi and Guanghan in Sichuan
province, see Yang Boda, ‘Jade Zhang in the Collection of the 前述出處，頁188-191。
Palace Museum, Beijing’, in Chinese Jade. Selected Articles
from Orientations 1983-1996, pp. 141-146, and Jessica 同時期內，西北石峁文化、廣漢二里頭文化等城市聚
Rawson, ibid., pp. 188-191. 落所造玉璋形制大體相同，然玉料選擇及紋飾細節各
While the basic form of these blades made at the same time 個有別。此件大維威爾舊藏牙璋玉色深綠偏黑，幾乎
in metropolitan China, the northwestern Shimao culture 不透光，與石峁遺址所出頗似。參考《中國出土玉器
and the Erlitou culture at Guanghan is the same, there are 全集14：陝西》，北京，2005年，頁17-19。另有若干
variations in the details and choice of jade. The blade from
the David-Weill Collection is carved from a dark green, 例，藏北京故宮博物院，見楊伯達，前述出處，頁
almost black stone of little or almost no translucency. It may 145-147，圖8至11。
be linked to blades carved from a very similar quality and
colour stone recovered from the hoard at Shenmu Shimao in 尤莫弗普勒斯舊藏也有兩例，自1937年起入藏大
Shaanxi. Compare three flanged blades of comparable stone 英博物館，錄於羅森，前述出處，頁1 8 9 ，圖3
quality published in The Complete Collection of Unearthed 。Sonnenschein 收藏及 Winthrop 收藏亦各有數例，見
Jades in China, vol. 14, Beijing, 2005, pp. 17-19. Several
examples that entered the collections of the Palace Museum, Alfred Salmony，《Archaic Jades from the Edward and
Beijing, are discussed and illustrated in Yang Boda, op.cit., Louise Sonnenschein Collection》，芝加哥，1952年，圖
pp. 145-147, figs 8-11. 版XXVIII，頁88，編號1，及羅樾、胡博，《Ancient
Compare two other examples from the Eumorfopoulos Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in
Collection and acquired by the British Museum, London, the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University》，劍橋，麻薩
in 1937, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, op.cit., p. 189, fig. 諸塞州，1975年，編號219至221。
3. Similar blades from the Sonnenschein and Winthrop
Collections are illustrated in Alfred Salmony, Archaic Jades
from the Edward and Louise Sonnenschein Collection,
Chicago 1952, pl. XXVIII, p. 88, no. 1; Max Loehr and Louisa
G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the
Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1975,
cat. nos 219-221.
29