SHANG DYNASTY (1600-1100 BC)

Details

A VERY RARE YELLOWISH GREEN JADE TORTOISE
SHANG DYNASTY (1600-1100 BC)
Modelled in the round, the animal well carved stretching its neck out of the shell, attractively rendered with bulging eyes, wrinkles on the neck, swirling patterns on the shell, as well as feet and tail, drilled with a hole in the centre, the stone of opaque yellowish-green tone
2 in. (4.8 cm.) long, box

Provenance

Baron and Baroness von Oertzen Collection

Literature

S. Howard Hansford, Jade - Essence of Hills and Streams, Johannesburg, 1969, no. A70, p. 54

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

This pendant was probably used as a clasp at the fastening of a necklace. The animal is carefully executed with charmng details such as the wrinkles on the neck and the definition on the claws. A similarly carved jade tortoise, but much larger in size (5.3 cm.) and without a central aperture, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing (fig. 1).

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