Lot Essay
Compare the dragon pendant of this type in the Sonnenschein Collection, Salmony, Ancient Chinese Jades, 1952, pl. L (8) and another illustrated in Jade Carving in Chinese Archaeology, vol. 1, pl. LXXIX (2)
Details
A PALE YELLOW-GREEN BOTTLE HORN JADE DRAGON PENDANT
LATE SHANG/WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
Each side of the flat plaque simply carved as a dragon in profile with trapezoidal eye, short bottle horn and bent foreleg, with a conical hole drilled through the coiled tail and a biconical hole drilled through the mouth, the softly polished stone translucent and with some opaque buff calcification, traces of cinnabar--1 5/8 in. (4.2cm.) long, brocade box
LATE SHANG/WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
Each side of the flat plaque simply carved as a dragon in profile with trapezoidal eye, short bottle horn and bent foreleg, with a conical hole drilled through the coiled tail and a biconical hole drilled through the mouth, the softly polished stone translucent and with some opaque buff calcification, traces of cinnabar--1 5/8 in. (4.2cm.) long, brocade box
Provenance
Dr. Robert Bloch
Literature
Robert Bloch, Jade, Munich, 1979, pl. 24, p. 79 and bottom col. pl. opposite p. 81