AN ARCHAIC CELADON JADE DRAGON PENDANT

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AN ARCHAIC CELADON JADE DRAGON PENDANT
eastern zhou dynasty

Sharply carved in the shape of a writhing dragon, both sides with a low relief pattern of intertwined swirls, pierced with one hole drilled from both sides, the polished flat plaque of semi-translucent stone suffused with fine dark and russet flecks and now with areas of opaque white mottling from alteration during burial, tail restuck, extremities possibly slightly reduced
4in. (10cm.) wide

Lot Essay

Cf. the pair of very similar pendants illustrated by J. Rawson, Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, no.17:9, p.269, where the author discusses the sudden appearance of dragon-shaped jades among the range of jades used in pendant sets in the 5th Century B.C., rather than the earlier tiger pendants. She compares this pair of pendants to the 4th Century B.C. examples from the tombs of the kings of Zhongshan in Hebei Province. Cf. also the larger similar pendant in the Musée Guimet, Paris included in the Arte Cinese Exhibition, Venice, 1954, Catalogue no.195, pl.X and on the front cover; the pair of similar pendants exhibited in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1995, and illustrated by J. Thompson in the Arts of Asia article Archaic Jades in the Lantien Shanfang Collection, fig.16; and the dragon plaque included in the Min Chiu Society 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Catalogue, no.206, p.432

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