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Lot Essay
This piece is half of what would have been a complete bi, such as the example of similar size (15.8 cm. diam.) and color, with small central aperture, and fine, glossy polish, carved with small plain bumps rather than comma spirals, from the collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, sold at Christie's New York, 19 March 2015, lot 592. Another complete bi of this type (16 cm. diam.) in the British Museum is illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 254, no. 15:3. The author compares this bi to one carved on the outer edge in openwork with a large projection of dragons and clouds, from the tomb of Prince Liu Sheng at Hebei Mancheng, late 2nd century BC, which is illustrated in a rubbing, p. 250, fig. 6. The author notes, p. 250, that the functions of the discs with openwork decoration projecting from the outer edge were different from the more usual bi discs, and goes on to say that each one was different, and presumably made for an "individual owner on a particular occasion." Rawson also illustrates, p. 310, a Han dynasty bi of this elaborate type in the Freer Gallery of Art, which has a large openwork carving of a striding feline dragon projecting from the outer edge. Another example carved with an openwork projection of two confronted dragons, in the collection of Ernest Erickson, is illustrated by A. Salmony in Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty, New York, 1963, pl. XXVII, where it is dated Han. See, also, the bi of this type carved in openwork on the outer edge with two phoenixes in the Qing Court Collection, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum - 40 - Jadeware (I), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 154, pl. 127. In Chinese Jade throughout the ages, Oriental Ceramic Society, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1975, J. Rawson and J. Ayers illustrate a complete white jade bi disc in the British Museum, no. 97, of similar size (14.2 cm. wide), and type, which is carved in a manner similar to that of the present piece with openwork decoration around the outer edges of the Animals of the Four Quarters: the Tiger of the West, the Dragon of the East, and the Bird of the South, but the Black Warrior of the North is missing.
The type of stone used for this bi and the others mentioned above appears to be similar to that seen in bi discs with similar 'grain' pattern decoration, known as guwen or guliwen, in the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection illustrated by M. Loehr in Ancient Chinese Jades, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975, pp. 265-68, nos. 392-395, which are dated late Eastern Zhou. The color is off-white with areas of brown staining and some opaque buff alteration, which is most noticeable on no. 392, where this alteration is along the veins in the stone and outlined in brown in a manner seen on the present piece. The central aperture on these examples are larger than that of the present piece, however, the aperture of no. 391, p. 264, which is now opaque from alteration, is similar in its small size.
The type of stone used for this bi and the others mentioned above appears to be similar to that seen in bi discs with similar 'grain' pattern decoration, known as guwen or guliwen, in the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection illustrated by M. Loehr in Ancient Chinese Jades, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975, pp. 265-68, nos. 392-395, which are dated late Eastern Zhou. The color is off-white with areas of brown staining and some opaque buff alteration, which is most noticeable on no. 392, where this alteration is along the veins in the stone and outlined in brown in a manner seen on the present piece. The central aperture on these examples are larger than that of the present piece, however, the aperture of no. 391, p. 264, which is now opaque from alteration, is similar in its small size.