A VERY RARE PALE CELADON JADE ‘KNEELING MAN’ PENDANT, SHANG DYNASTY

拍品描述

A VERY RARE PALE CELADON JADE ‘KNEELING MAN’ PENDANT, SHANG DYNASTY China, c. 1600-1050 BC. Finely carved, the figure shown in a prostrate posture with a slightly hunched back, with hands resting upon the knees, and enveloped in a wide-sleeved garment decorated with neatly incised scrolling motifs. His oversized, rounded face, rendered with a subtly incised schematic expression, marked by large eyes, a broad nose, and full lips, while surmounted by a distinctive headdress, interrupted at the center and pierced with two small apertures for suspension. The reverse of the head further shaped with a small notch. The finely polished, semi-translucent stone of a pale celadon tone suffused with olive-green and light brown inclusions, together with delicate areas of whitish mineral alteration accrued through millennia of burial. David Taylor (1876-1958) was a prominent British businessman based in Belfast who owned several commercial properties and a substantial portfolio of stocks and shares. During his travels to East Asia in the early 20th century, he acquired numerous jades, including the present lot. His grandfather, Sir David Taylor (1815-1904), was born in Perth, Scotland, and relocated to Belfast in 1842, where he served as mayor in 1867, and again in 1883 and 1884. Dimensions: Height 6.3 cm Kneeling figures of this type are among the rarest jade artifacts from the Shang dynasty. Examples carved with related features have been found at the tomb of Lady Hao, dated to around 1200 BC, suggesting that this piece was made at around the same time. While the identification and function of these kneeling figures is a matter of speculation, their rarity suggests, as noted by Jessica Rawson, that ‘they are likely to have been extremely valuable and to have offered Fu Hao some sort of power or access to power’. See Jessica Rawson, Mysteries of Ancient China, 1996, p. 108. About a kneeling jade figure from the Tomb of Fu Hao, Ai Weiwei notes that ‘some people believe this small carving represents Fu Hao herself, but I believe it is more mythological than memorial in function, a ritual object related to a higher power’. See Ai Weiwei on a Shang Dynasty jade from the tomb of Fu Hao, published in Jori Finkel, It Speaks to Me: Art that Inspires Artists, 2019. This interpretation underscores the enigmatic role such figures played in Shang dynasty rituals and beliefs. The Tomb of Fu Hao is an archaeological site at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang dynasty capital Yin, within the modern city of Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by Zheng Zhenxiang, it was identified as the final resting place of the queen and military general Fu Hao, who died about 1200 BC. She was likely to have been the Lady Hao inscribed on oracle bones by King Wu Ding as well as one of his many wives. The artifacts unearthed within the grave included 755 jade objects, among them besides contemporary Shang jades also Longshan, Liangzhu, Hongshan, and Shijiahe jades. It is to date the only Shang royal tomb found intact with its contents and excavated by archaeologists, never having been looted probably due to its considerable distance from other known tombs. Literature comparison: Compare a related jade kneeling figure, late Shang dynasty, 1300-1050 BC, 4.3 cm high, in the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1943.50.317, included in the exhibition Ancient Chinese Jades, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1975, cat. no. 121. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 4 July 2024, lot 63 Price: HKD 281,600 or approx. EUR 32,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related modeling with analogous prostrate stance, manner of carving, and color of the stone, notwithstanding the extensive calcification of the present specimen. Note the slightly smaller size (4.4 cm).

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