Page 70 - Sotheby's Asian Art PARIS, December 10, 2019

This rare jade disc combines two of the most recognisable A Ming dynasty jade disc combined with a tablet in the
objects made in early Chinese jade history. The disc (bi) collection of the British Museum, London, closely follows
and the tablet (gui) both appear among the six important the printed example in its form and design. Jessica Rawon
ritual jades in the Zhouli (Rites of Zhou), one of the three notes that ‘although no such combination of disc and
classics on rites and etiquette compiled in the latter part pointed blade had existed, the attempt at the combination
of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. It lists the six ritual jades and careful rendering of the surface ornament indicate
as bi, cong, gui, zhang, hu and huang. Their functions concern, if displaced, for historical accuracy’, see Jessica
and forms were later reconstructed by Nie Chongyi Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing,
in the Sanli tu (Three Rituals Illustrated) during the London, 1995, pp. 91 and 92, fig. 88.
Northern Song Dynasty, and by Wu Dacheng in his Guyu Like the previous lot, this rare jade disc shows some
tukao (Investigations of Ancient Jade with Illustrations) in unique features that adhere more to 18th century style
the late Qing Dynasty.
and preferences than to an earlier model such as a small
While jade discs bi appeared in burials of the Neolithic jade guibi in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated
period, their round shape was believed to represent in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, Jade,
the shape of heaven while also serving as a symbol of Vol. 6, Ming Dynasty, Hefei, 2011, p. 28, col. pl. 5. The disc
rank and wealth found in high-ranking burials as early emerges from a bed of tumultuous waves and is enveloped
as in Hongshan and Liangzhu cultures and as late as the by dense scrolling clouds. A sinuous dragon circles the
Western Han period. The jade tablet gui with is pointed tip pointed tip of the tablet, a much smaller dragon occupies
did not appear before the late Eastern Zhou period and the central aperture of the disc. This specific design may
was similarly associated as symbols of rank. have been inspired by Western Han jade discs such as
found in the tomb of the King of Nan Yue in Guangzhou,
A concern with China’s past that began in the Northern
Song dynasty and the reassessment of that past after compare, for instance, jade discs from this tomb published
the fall of the northern capital saw a renewed interest in in Jades from the Tomb of the King of Nanyue, Guangzhou,
ancient practices and values as well as the material past, 1991, pls. 40, 42 and 53. We know that a Western Han jade
documented in printed books. Their impact on material disc with dragons was in the imperial collection as one
culture from the Song dynasty onwards contributed to the such disc was illustrated on the Guwantu.
revival and dissemination of ancient shapes and designs. Among the rare comparable examples is a jade guibi in
The Guyu tupu, compiled in 1176 by imperial commission, the Palace Museum Collection in Beijing, illustrated
is the among the first such books on ancient jades to in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
illustrate a guibi, a disc combined with appointed blade, Museum. Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 160, no. 129
compare Guyu tupu, sanshi er juan, juan 2, pp. 12 and 13. (Fig. 1). Another jade guibi dated to the 19th century, was
sold in Sotheby’s New York, 15th and 16th September
2015, lot 200 (Fig 2).

Fig. 1 A white jade disc, guibi, from The Palace Museum, Fig. 2 Archaistic pale celadon jade ‘twelve symbols’
Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of tablet, sold in Sotheby’s New York, 15th and 16th
Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (III), Hong September 2015, lot 200.
Kong, 1995, p. 160., no. 129.
68 ARTS D’ASIE