A LARGE (41 CM) DARK GREEN JADE DISK, BI, NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD MILLENNIUM BC

拍品描述

A LARGE (41 CM) DARK GREEN JADE DISK, BI, NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD MILLENNIUM BC China. Skillfully carved, of oblong form with a central circular aperture drilled from one side. The smoothly polished, semi-translucent stone is of a deep forest and sage green tone with cloudy white inclusions and a patch of ivory-white calcification along one edge. Dimensions: Length 40.7 cm Bi disks are a type of jade which continued to be crafted in numbers by cultures located in central and northwest China during the transitional period between the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The majority of these disks range in size between ten and twenty centimeters, and larger ones like the present lot are rare. Their size and weight, requiring both hands to hold them, suggest that these imposing disks were displayed and used in a ritual context. Literature comparison: Compare a related Hongshan jade disk, 12.9 cm diameter, excavated from Tomb no. 1 of Burial Mound no. 1 at the 5th location within the Niuheliang site, Liaoning, illustrated in Gu Fang, The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 2, 2007, p. 140. Compare a related jade disk, dated to the late Neolithic period, 8.9 cm long, excavated from Dongwenggenshan site, Tailai, Heilongjiang illustrated ibid., p. 204. Compare a related Qijia jade disk, 27.1 cm diameter, collected from the Lajia site, Qinghai Province, now held by the Minhe Museum, and illustrated ibid., p. 143. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 October 2022, lot 162 Price: HKD 151,200 or approx. EUR 18,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related slightly irregular form, manner of carving, and stone. Note the smaller size (23.1 cm).

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