Page 12 - 2020 December 1 Bonhams Hong Kong, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of art

PROPERTY FROM THE NUMINA COLLECTION
玉古堂藏品
104
A VERY RARE PAIR OF LARGE WHITE AND RUSSET JADE The present exquisite pair of jade bi discs is remarkable for the large
DISCS, BI size and the white and lustrous semi-translucent stone, powerfully and
Late Warring States/mid Western Han Dynasty crisply carved in relief with an abundant number of neatly arranged
Each circular disc with a small round perforation in the centre, polygonal bosses. Each well-defined boss is lined up in neat regular
meticulously and crisply carved in relief on both sides with a dense rows and columns, demonstrating a painstaking and meticulous
pattern of raised bosses neatly arranged in an hexagonal grid pattern, carving process and formidable skill and execution by the master
all within a raised border at the outer and inner edges, the lustrously carver. The large size and the exceptional level of workmanship
polished semi-translucent stone of an even white tone with reddish- suggest that this bi was of particular significance during the Late
brown inclusions, box. Warring States period to the mid Western Han dynasty, and was
Each 15.6cm (6 1/8in) diam. (3). probably made for an important state ceremonial purpose.

HKD2,000,000 - 3,000,000 According to the Confucian text Zhou Li, or Rites of Zhou, the bi
US$260,000 - 390,000 disc along with the cong tube were by far the most important ritual
jade. The bi discs were regarded as suitable offering to Heaven and
戰國晚期/西漢中期 白玉蒲紋壁一對 therefore became symbolic of Heaven. Large jades bi discs with
surfaces carved with relief patterns which reflected the light and made
Provenance: the jades gleam can be seen in significant numbers in tombs of the
The Numina Collection, Hong Kong, acquired in the 1960s Eastern Zhou period. By the Late Warring States period until the mid
Western Han period, the relief patterns of spirals and scrolls evolved
來源： to hexagons across the main surfaces such as on the present pair of
香港玉古堂收藏，於1960年代蒐集 discs. For a discussion about jade discs, see J.Rawson, Chinese Jade
from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pp.247-251.