Four celadon jade sword pommels, Han dynasty | 漢 青玉旋渦紋劍首三件 及 柿葉紋劍首一件

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1994-2002.

1994至2002年購於香港

The sword pommel may be the earliest type of sword ornament that utilizes jade as the material. A sword from a Guo-state tomb of the Western Zhou dynasty was excavated with a jade handle and jade sword pommel, which is possibly the earliest sword pommel ever found, published in The Guo State Tombs in Sanmenxia, Beijing, 1999, vol.1. II, pl. 44. During the Warring States period, the design of such sword pommel was standardised. For example, a jade sword pommel dated to the Warring States period, now in the Sichuan Museum, is similar to the three sword pommels in the present lot with a raised centre from the concave surface, illustrated in Yang Boda ed., Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jades], Shijiazhuang, 2005, vol. 3, pl. 298. For related examples with the pattern of fire surrounded by spirals, see one dated to the period from the mid-Warring States period to the Western Han dynasty in the Palace Museum, Taipei, included in Tsai Ching-Liang ed., Betwixt Reality and Illusion: Special Exhibition of Jades from the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2020, accession no. 故玉001695. See also a similar sword pommel dated to the late Warring States period - Western Han dynasty, accession no. 故玉003315.

四件皆圓形，內凹，其中一件素面無紋，另外三件中間起地陰刻旋火紋，此三件中兩件邊緣又飾榖紋一周，另一件則飾勾雲紋。

劍首可能是劍具中最早用玉作裝飾的部位，西周虢國墓出土一劍裝以玉柄及玉首，可能為最早之玉劍首實物，見《三門峽虢國墓（第一卷）》，北京，1999年，下冊，圖版44。此類劍首戰國時期已有定式，如四川博物館藏一件戰國玉劍首，內凹然中間又起地一層，與此組三件類似，見楊伯達編，《中國玉器全集》，石家莊，2005年，卷3，圖版298。中間陰勾旋火紋周圍榖紋之劍首可參考台北故宮藏一件戰國中期至西漢例子，見蔡慶良編，《實幻之間 : 院藏戰國至漢代玉器特展》，台北，2020年，編號：故玉001695；有一戰國晚期至西漢之例，屬同款，館藏編號：故玉003315。