A rare and subtly carved celadon jade 'pig-dragon', zhulong Neolithic period, Hongshan culture | 新石器時代 紅山文化青白玉豬龍

Considered to represent the prototype of depictions of mythological dragons in later Chinese art, zhulong are some of the most interesting creations of the Hongshan culture, and evidence the existence of a complex system of belief in supernatural forces. Jade zhulong have been recovered at various tomb sites in Northern China, often placed on the chest of the tomb occupants, suggesting they were worn as chest ornaments.

Gu Fang, Zhongguo chutu yuqi quanji/The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2005, vol. 2, pl. 19 illustrates a related pale green pig dragon, similar in size, but with deeper carving and the opening just touching, excavated at the Nasitai site, Balinyouqi, Inner Mongolia; another is published in Angus Forsyth & Brian McElney, Jades from China, The Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, 1994, cat. no. 24, from the Museum’s collection. A zhulong of similar form and size, but with the slit cut open, from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung, is illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, The British Museum, London, 1995, no. 1:4, together with a fragmentary piece from the British Museum collection, p. 116, fig. 1; and a slightly larger piece, also cut open, in the Tianjin Municipal Art Museum, is published in Mou Yongkang & Yun Xizheng, eds, Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese jades], vol. 1, Shijiazhuang, 1993, pl. 29.

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比較一青玉豬龍例，尺寸與本品相近，刻紋較深，缺口僅極小部份相接，載於古方，《中國出土玉器全集》，北京，2005年，卷2，圖版19，出土自內蒙巴林右旗那斯台遺址。東亞藝術博物館藏另有一例，載於霍璽及麥雅理，《Jades from China》，巴斯，1994年，編號24。另比較何東爵士舊藏例，缺口不連接，圖載於羅森，《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，大英博物館，倫敦，1995年，編號1:4，同書並載大英博物館藏例，惜有殘，頁116，圖1。參考天津美術館藏品，缺口亦不連接，載於牟永抗、雲希正，《中國玉器全集》，卷1，石家莊，1993年，圖版29。