HAN DYNASTY, 2ND-1ST CENTURY BC

Details

A PAIR OF OPAQUE JADE PIGS
HAN DYNASTY, 2ND-1ST CENTURY BC
Each rounded, rectangular block is carved as a recumbent pig with flat snout above a pierced narrow tab, and deep, slanting grooves that delineate the ears, the front and rear legs, and the tail which is pierced through its base. The stone of each is now opaque and of buff color, with traces of cinnabar.
4 3/8 in. (11.2 cm.) long, fitted wood boxes (2)

Provenance

Acquired in Japan before 1991.

Exhibited

Kyoto, Oriental Works of Art: Shogado 70 Years, 12-13 November 1989, p. 34.

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Lot Essay

A pair of jade pigs of this type, illustrated by S. Jenyns in Chinese Archaic Jades in the British Museum, London, 1951, pl. XXXII (top), have a block-like appearance, and are not as well detailed as the present pair, but exhibit the same kind of opaque alteration, and are described, p. xxxvi, as of light green and white color. Another pair of similar Han jade pigs, from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, is illustrated by M. Loehr in Ancient Chinese Jades, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1975, p. 387, no. 555.

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