A VERY RARE YELLOWISH-GREEN JADE PENDANT (HUANG) SHANG - ZHOU DYNASTY |

the flattened fan-shaped huang pierced at both ends with a small aperture, with a possibly later incised design on both sides, each elegantly executed in faint lines with a pair of dragons, with their sinuous bodies interlocked and heads turned facing each other, the softly polished stone of a pale yellowish-celadon tone with some fine russet inclusions on one side

Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty, New York, 1963, pl. XXXI, fig. 3.

The top right corner on one side is slightly polished, and there are some chips around the apertures. The other side with some minor polishing around the apertures. Overall the pendant is in general good condition with some expected minute nicks along the edges.
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.
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The present lot is most remarkable for its finely incised interlocking double-dragon design on both sides. A small group of huang of this form with either carved or incised designs are known from archeological discoveries or in museum collections, mostly attributed to the Western Zhou to Spring and Autumn periods. The most similar example within this group is a slightly larger huang, incised on both sides in similarly fashioned faint lines with stylized dragon heads formed by angular scrolls, from the late Spring and Autumn period, unearthed in Fengxian county, Shaanxi province, published in Liu Yunhui, Shaanxi chutu dongzhou yuqi [Eastern Zhou jade unearthed in Shaanxi], Beijing, 2006, p. 60, no. FW10, together with three other related examples with heavier incised designs of scrolls, also discovered in Fengxiang county, ibid., pp 73-74, nos FN18, FN19, and FN20.

The style of the dragon design and the superior fluency of the incisions on the present pendant seem somewhat atypical among related published examples of this period, which presents the question of whether the design could have been incised at a later date. Although there appears to be no definitive answer, similar speculations have been made by academics on two Western Zhou dynasty jade bi discs and a late Neolithic to Shang dynasty jade slit disc in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, each decorated with finely incised designs on both sides, exhibited in Special Exhibition of Circular Jade, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1995, cat. nos 31, 32, and 42, where it is noted that their designs are possibly post-Han dynasty additions. Compare also a jade huang of a similar form, but pierced with three apertures near the edges, carved to one side with a tiger in low relief and finely incised to the other side in similarly executed fluent lines with scrolling cloud motifs, attributed to the Wei to Jin dynasty, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 224.