Page 22 - 2021 March 15th Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonhams NYC New York

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ROBERT P. YOUNGMAN For another rare matched pair of dragon pendants dating to the same
period, see Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the
15 Qing, British Museum, London, 1995, pp.269-270, No. 17:9 where
TWO PALE CELADON GREEN AND GREY JADE DRAGON- the author notes that “matched dragon pendants of this quality are
SHAPED PENDANTS rare having been used only in the tombs of the highest rank. There
Eastern Zhou Dynasty (5th - 4th Century BCE) are only a few examples in collections outside China.” She also notes
The two carved in mirror image with powerfully arched S-shaped that dragon pendants made a sudden appearance in the range of jade
bodies with scrolling projections, one with tight ‘grain’-form coils, items in the fifth century BCE tombs in Henan province and the tombs
the other with a variety of shaped ‘commas’ and ‘grain’-form coils, of the Jin State.
each pendant is outlined with a small edge-ridge, the heads, feet and
some projections with more detailed realistic fur-like markings, the For a number of other similar examples see, Wen C. Fong and James
reverse side of each is un-worked save for original tool cutting marks C.Y. Watt, Possessing the Past: Treasures from the National Palace
on each both drilled, from one side only, at the center of upper body Museum, Taipei, New York, Taipei, 1996, pp.48-49, pl. 10, where the
for suspension. authors note that such pieces formed part of a composite pendant
6 1/4in (16cm) across, approximately worn by the aristocracy of the eastern Zhou period and illustrate a line
drawing reconstructing the assemblage (fig. 3).
$6,000 - 10,000
See also Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L.
東周 龍形玉佩兩件 Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University,
Massachusetts, 1975, pp.290-291, no’s 422-424; Zhou Nanquan,
Provenance Gugong Bowuyuan Tsan Wenwu Jenping Quanji, The Complete
Alvin Lo Oriental Art Limited, New York, 2001 Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (1),Hong
Kong, 1995, p.180, No. 150; and Teng Shu-p’ing, Chun Yu Bie Tsang
Literature Shu Ji, 1999 Collector’s Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades, National
Alvin Lo Oriental Art Limited, Auspicious Jade Animals, New York, Palace Museum, 1996 pp.236-237, no’s 154 and 174.
2001, No. 1
A pair of unadorned silhouette dragon pendants dated to the Eastern
來源 Zhou period (5th-4th century BCE) that resemble the undersides of
Alvin Lo Oriental Art Limited,, 紐約, 2001年 our examples, are illustrated by J.J. Lally & Co., Ancient Chinese Jade,
March 2018, no. 107 where comparison is drawn with another pair
出版 excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng at Suizhou, Hubei
Alvin Lo Oriental Art Limited, Auspicious Jade Animals, 紐約, 2001年, province illustrated by Gu (ed.), Zhongguochutu yuqi quanji (Complete
圖錄編號1 Collection of Jades unearthed in China), Vol. 10, Hubei, Hunan,
For a similar pair of Eastern Zhou, Warring States (475-221 BCE) Beijing, 2005, p.84.
dragon-shaped pendants unearthed at Pingliangtai, Huaiyang county,
Henan Province and now housed in the Henan Provincial Institute of See also John Finlay, The Chinese Collection, Selected Works from the
Archaeology and Cultural Relics, Zhengzhou, see China: 5,000 Years: Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, 2003, pp.136-137, no. 43,
Innovation and Transformation in the Arts, Guggenheim Museum, New for a single example.
York, 1998, p. 213, no. 14.

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