Page 23 - Christie's Hong Kong November 29, 2022 Chang e Wha Collection of Jades

rubbing of lot 2709 rubbing of lot 2722
拍品 2709 號之拓片 拍品 2722 號之拓片

KING OF NANYUE’S CLOUD SCROLLS

Han Dynasty jades are rich in style with many varieties of decorations In the archaic jade collecting world, Warring States and Han Dynasty
and designs. As the idea of beauty expands, different regions and are often grouped together as Zhan-Han, which can be easily
cultures create unique styles. misconstrued to mean that the two periods are stylistically aligned. In
fact, the two are drastically different both in terms of their aesthetics
Amongst Han Dynasty tombs that contain important jades (such and craftsmanship. In the Warring States, wars were frequently waged
as the Xuzhou tomb in Jiangsu, the tomb of Marquis of Haihun in between states, therefore masculine decorations that convey military
Nanchang, the Mancheng tomb in Hebei, and the tomb of King of might were often seen on objects, including jades. The Han Dynasty
Nanyue in Guangzhou), only the jades found in King of Nanyue’s adopted Daoism in its inception, then Confucianism after the Wudi
tomb feature an unusual cloud scroll, found at the tail end of dragon emperor. Bar the conflicts with Xiongnu, it is a peaceful civilized
or phoenix decorations on jade huan disc or pendant (for example nation in essence, and the decorations on its objects are softer in tone
the pierced pendant with dragon and phoenix, fig. 1; or the pendant with an emphasis on beauty, and the designs are more varied with a
with phoenix decoration). This cloud scroll can become engorged touch of romanticism. Therefore, in terms of style, Warring States and
as required by the object’s form or decorative composition, creating Two Han Dynasties jades should be viewed independently.
curious and delightful designs not seen on Han jades from other
regions, highlighting the unique aesthetics of the Nanyue Kingdom.

There are three objects in the current sale that feature this style, and
they are: the archer’s ring-form pendant with phoenix decoration (lot
2705); the cloud scroll pendant in the set of four pendants (lot 2709);
and the pierced dragon and phoenix huan pendant (lot 2722).

21