Page 84 - Sotheby's Junkunc Collection March 2019

117 A WHITE JADE BELT PLAQUE
TANG DYNASTY OR LATER
唐或以後 白玉雕樂人圖牌

carved in relief to one side with a musician, possibly of Central Asian origin, seated on an oval mat playing a pipa, the figure
enclosed within an undulating frame, the other side possibly later-carved with a sinewy coiled dragon encircling a floret
amidst clouds extending over the top edge of the plaque, pierced for suspension, the stone of a pure white color

Width 1⅞ in., 4.7 cm
$ 6,000-8,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

Plaques such as the present example were produced from the early Tang dynasty in sets to adorn belts, with each
plaque variously carved with musicians playing different instruments or as servers bearing tribute. Many of the
figures are dressed in Central Asian style, in keeping with the fashion seen on foreigners in the Tang dynasty capital. A
belt set comprised of sixteen similarly carved white jade plaques was excavated at Hejiacun, Xi’an, Shaanxi province
in 1970 and was included in the exhibition Gilded Dragons. Buried Treasures from China’s Golden Ages, The British
Museum, London, 1999, cat. no. 65. A single example, carved with a musician playing a pipe, is illustrated in Jessica
Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 25:2.

此類玉牌為腰帶飾件，可見於初唐，紋飾各異，上刻胡 sures from China’s Golden Ages》，大英博物館，倫
人奏樂或侍者進貢，人物衣著多呈中亞風格，與唐都胡 敦，1999年，編號65。另見一例，雕樂者吹笛，收錄於
人服飾無異。參考一套十六件相類白玉牌例,1970年陝西 Jessica Rawson,《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to
西安何家村出土，展《Gilded Dragons. Buried Trea- the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，圖版25:2。

82 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA