NEOLITHIC PERIOD, HONGSHAN CULTURE, CIRCA 3500 BC

This distinct shape has been labeled "horse hoof" or mati by Chinese archaeologists excavating Hongshan cultural sites in Liaoning and northern Hebei provinces. They are now thought to be some kind of hair ornament, as they have been found under or next to the head of the occupants of Hongshan tombs. A photograph of Tomb 4 at Liaoning, Niuheliang, area 11, showing a hoof-shaped jade beneath the head of the deceased, is illustrated by J. Rawson, Chinese Jade from Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 116, fig. 1. One, excavated from the Gejiayingzi site, Balinzuoqi, Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, is illustrated by Gu Fang, The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 2, Beijing, 2005, p. 36. See, also, the larger example of this type from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, sold in these rooms, 25 March 2010, lot 1040.