WESTERN HAN DYNASTY (206 BC-AD 8)

The present scabbard slide, superbly carved in high relief depicting the three ‘Guardians of Directions’, displays remarkable detail and exudes great vigour, exemplifying the mastery of Han-dynasty jade carvers. A very similar scabbard slide dating to early Han dynasty, though only with two dragons, was excavated in Hongtushan, Shandong, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji -9- yuqi, Beijing, 1986, pl. 176 (fig. 1). On this example, features similar to those of the present slide can be observed, such as the grooves on the dragon’s tail and incised-line markings on the bodies. Similar high-relief dragons can also be found on a set of jade sword guard, pommel and chape excavated from the tomb of King Nanyue in Guangzhou, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji -4- Qin, Han and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Shijiazhuang, 1993, pls. 78-82.