Two agate minimalist animal carvings Neolithic period, Hongshan culture | 新石器時代 紅山文化瑪瑙雕動物形飾件兩件

Craftsmen of the Hongshan culture worked not only in jade, but also carved other semi-precious stones, such as agate and other types of chalcedony, as well as ordinary, non-precious stones. Agate beads similar to the jade bead Lot 96 in this group have been found in the Shang tomb of Fu Hao, as have been small stone sculptures of tigers, turtles, birds and other creatures, believed to predate the tomb owner and possibly deriving from the Hongshan culture (see Yinxu Fu Hao mu/Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang, Beijing, 1980, col. pl. 36: 2).

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紅山文化藝匠不僅製玉，亦以其他寶石如瑪瑙和其他類型之玉髓以及非寶石類石頭雕刻。商代婦好墓曾出土瑪瑙珠，與同場編號96拍品之玉珠相近，此外並有虎、鱉、鳥及其他小型石雕，相信斷代早於婦好在生時期，可能源自紅山文化。（參考《殷墟婦好墓》，北京，1980年，彩色圖版36: 2）。