A SMALL GREENISH-YELLOW AND BROWN JADE 'ANIMAL MASK' PENDANT

MING-QING DYNASTY, 16TH-18TH CENTURY

Details

A SMALL GREENISH-YELLOW AND BROWN JADE 'ANIMAL MASK' PENDANT
MING-QING DYNASTY, 16TH-18TH CENTURY
Of triangular section, the thick pendant is well carved on one side as an animal mask with scrolled brows, segmented horns curved over the ears, and a single, short horn. The back is flat and the pendant is pierced from the top to the center of the slit-like mouth at the bottom. The pale greenish-yellow stone has dark brown staining.
1 ¼ in. (3.2 cm.) wide, box

Provenance

B. K. Wong, Hong Kong, 3 May 1994.

Literature

Nicole De Bisscop, Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Brussels, 1995, p. 55, no. 29.

Exhibited

Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Kredietbank Gallery, Brussels, 25 October - 17 December 1995; Kredietbank Luxembourg, 1 February - 13 April 1996, no. 29.

Brought to you by

Michael Bass

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Lot Essay

This small jade animal mask may have been inspired by those of Eastern Zhou or early Han dynasty date, such as the comparably small lion mask-form fitting of yellow jade with extensive brown mottling in the British Museum illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 277, no. 18:1. Unlike the present pendant, which is vertically pierced, that fitting has a central groove on the flat reverse and small perforations through the sides and the top for attachment.

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