A YELLOW JADE PLAQUE LONGSHAN CULTURE, NEOLITHIC PERIOD

the arc-shaped flattened plaque pierced and carved, the stone of a pale greenish-yellow tone with beige and darker brown inclusions; together with a Chahai culture slit ring, the softly polished stone of a primrose tone with russet veins 

Exquisite Jade Carving, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. nos 130 and 144.

Spink and Son, Chinese Jade: An Important Private Collection, London, 1991, cat. no. 2 (the plaque).

Slit ring: the overall condition is very good. Plaque: the overall condition is very good. There is an old chip to the tip of 'tail' of the carving.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Compare a related example of openwork carving in the Art Institute of Chicago, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1994, p. 219, fig. 4, where Rawson suggests that it may be an elaborate crested headdress and a predecessor to the large crests on the figures in Anyang period tombs (c. 1200 B.C.; see pp. 218-19). For a closely related slit ring see one in the Simon Kwan collection, included in the exhibition Chinese Archaic Jades from the Kwan Collection, Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 2; and another, catalogued as an earring, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Teng Shu-P'ing, Neolithic Jades in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1992, pl. 1.