Page 48 - Christie's Hong Kong May 31, 2017 Adorning The KIngs Jades

2733 Continued fig. 1 Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
圖一 北京故宮博物院藏品
This unique jade bi disc is carved with a rare design, and
although other Han period pierced discs are recorded, no other
examples of similar design appears to have been published. The
main decorative motif on the current disc is dragons, and two
large ones and one small dragon are depicted. The largest dragon
on the upper end side extends its head beyond the border of the
disc to a flange above. The dragon at the lower side is carrying a
winged man. This mythical creature is associated with longevity,
and a very popular subject in the Han Dynasty. An example of
the winged man riding on a dragon can be seen on one of the
frescos from the tomb in Luoyang dated to the Xinmang period
(9-23 AD). Compare also the jade carving of a winged man
riding on a horse, excavated from the tomb of Emperor Yuan of
Han Dynasty, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji 4 – Qin, Han,
Nanbeichao, Hebei, 1993, p. 108, no. 147.

Compare two pierced discs, one simply circular with two pairs
of dragons and phoenix, made for the King of Nanyue and
illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji 4 – Qin, Han, Nanbeichao,
Hebei, 1993, p 25 no. 32; the other, a flanged example in the
Beijing Palace Museum collection, illustrated in Jadeware (I), The
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong
Kong, 1995, p. 257, no. 215, also has two pairs of dragons and
phoenixs - however one pair is carved inside the circular disc,
while the other in the flange above (fig. 1).

玉白色，有褐色沁斑，體片狀，兩面紋飾相同。上下透雕兩隻螭龍，
側面雕一隻小龍。上方龍之首伸出廓外，以流雲紋環繞而成出戟；
下方龍背上承載一羽人，尾部上方有一隻獼猴。

這件出戟璧的紋飾特別罕見，在其他漢代同類的透雕璧中沒有發現
過相似例。整個璧的主體紋飾是龍紋，以上下兩條螭龍為首。下方
的龍載著一個羽人。羽人在漢朝神話中與長生不老的仙人有關，是
羽化成仙的象徵。在洛陽金谷園新莽時期墓中的壁畫上就畫著羽人
騎龍。另外漢元帝的墓中出現過一個騎著天馬的羽人白玉雕件，著
錄於《中國玉器全集 4 – 秦、漢》，河北，1993 年，頁 108，圖版
147 號。

比較兩件透雕玉璧，一件是南越王墓出土，雕有兩對龍鳳紋的玉璧，
著錄於《中國玉器全集 4 – 秦、漢》，河北，1993 年，頁 25，圖
版 32 號；另一件是北京故宮博物院藏的一件出戟玉璧，同樣雕了兩
對龍鳳紋，惟一對在璧廓內，一對在出戟上，著錄於《故宮博物院
藏文物珍品全集 – 玉器（上）》香港，1995 年，頁 257，215 號
（圖一）。

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