Page 34 - Bonhams Hong King May 30 2017 THE SONGZHUTANG COLLECTION OF EARLY JADES

16 Compare a jade ornament of a mythical-beast mask with similar
A RARE JADE OX-HEAD PENDANT carving and facial features, but slightly smaller, Shang dynasty,
Late Shang Dynasty illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum:
The thick arched stone carved as an ox-head on the convex side, Jade 2 Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Beijing, 2011, p.156, pl.164.
skilfully carved with a pair of protruding eyes surrounded by incised
double outlines, beneath incised eyebrows and low-relief horns, with Small animal jade carvings are one of the predominant categories of
two pierced holes flanking the nose, the stone of pale green tone with the Shang and early Western Zhou periods. It is also interesting to
minor russet inclusions. note that a wide variety of subjects were found in the tomb of Fu Hao
4.3cm (1 3/4in) long in Anyang, Henan Province, including a diverse range of real animal
carvings such as tigers, rams and buffaloes; see for example, a white
HK$80,000 - 100,000 and russet jade ram-head pendant of similar size, late Shang dynasty,
US$10,000 - 13,000 illustrated in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China 5,
vol.5, Beijing, 2010, p.37.
Provenance:
Sotheby’s New York, 3 June 1992, lot 1
The Songzhutang collection, no.20

Published and Illustrated:
T.Fok, The Splendour of Jade: The Songzhutang Collection of Jade,
Hong Kong, 2011, pl.20

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