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Expert’s note: The present ‘bi’ disk is among the largest examples ever recorded, dwarfing almost any example recorded in private and public collections. Comparable disks rarely exceed 40 cm in diameter, while the majority measure between 10 and 20 cm.
Expert authentication: Sam Myers has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity, dating the bi to the early Bronze Age, 2200-1900 BC. He appraised it at a value of USD 80,000 or approx. EUR 94,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). A copy of the valuation from Myrna Myers Arts d’Extrême Orient, Paris, written and signed by Sam Myers, dated 5 May 2017, accompanies this lot.
Sam Myers is a scholar and expert of Chinese jades and works of art with over 50 years of experience. In 1976, his wife Myrna Myers opened a gallery in Paris specializing in Asian art, and together the couple built an extraordinary art collection, including one of the world’s most distinguished jade collections, published in numerous catalogs and seen around the world in a number of important museum exhibitions.
China, 2100-1600 BC. Magnificently carved, of circular form, with a central circular aperture drilled from one side, with a tapered interior edge. The superbly polished, opaque stone is of a beautifully mottled dark green tone with dark, olive and sage-greenish shadings and whitish cloud-like inclusions.
Provenance: Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, United States, by 2007. Collection of Lord Anthony Jacobs, London, United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Collection of Marla M. Kosec, London, United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Lord Anthony Jacobs (1931-2014) was a distinguished British businessman, politician, and philanthropist best known for his leadership of enterprises such as BSM driving schools and the Spudulike restaurant chain. From 1999 to 2002 he sat on the House of Lords Works of Art Committee, reflecting his deep engagement with the arts while building a notable collection over his lifetime. Marla M. Kosec (born 1956) is an American medical professional entrepreneur, philanthropist, and devoted collector whose life has been shaped by decades of travel, service to others, and enduring friendships formed in China, Indonesia, and England. Over 18 years, she assembled a deeply personal collection of Buddhist art and Chinese jades, which she views not as possessions but as living companions.
Condition: Good condition, with expected wear, traces of weathering, signs of prolonged burial, natural inclusions, shallow fissures, some of which have developed over millennia into thin hairline cracks, small chips, and minor nibbling along the edges.
Weight: 14.7 kg (excl. stand), 21.6 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Diameter 63 cm
With an associated metal stand. (2)
The present disk belongs to the Qijia Culture of Gansu, as indicated by its undecorated surface, the quality of the stone, and the proportionally small central aperture. Before the 1980s, the Qijia culture was virtually unknown to scholars. No excavation reports or related archaeological data existed to account for this culture. Only recently, with the 2005 publication of the 15 volume study, The Complete Set of Unearthed Chinese Jades, edited by Gu Fang, was this culture brought to the attention of scholars. By the time the Qijia people carved this disk, jade had already been exploited by various Neolithic cultures for several millennia, including the closely related plain ritual disks associated with the Liangzhu culture of the Yangtze River Delta (late 4th to late 3rd millennium BC). The Qijia jade bi and cong are generally of larger size than those of the Liangzhu and they more consistently display a lack of any decoration, which contributes to the sense that these jade artifacts were important for symbolic and ritual purposes.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related smaller jade bi disk, attributed to the Qijia Culture, 46 cm diameter, in the Freer Gallery of Art, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F1956.16, where it is described as the “largest disk in the collection, and among the largest known”.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 18 March 2009, lot 277
Price: USD 194,500 or approx. EUR 250,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very rare and unusually large dark green jade bi, Late Neolithic period, Northwest China, circa 2000 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, and stone. Note the much smaller size (34.1 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 30 November 2022, lot 3
Price: HKD 1,326,000 or approx. EUR 153,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large green jade circular disc, bi, Neolithic Period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, and stone. Note the much smaller size (33.5 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke Vienna, 16 April 2026, lot 117
Price: EUR 57,200
Description: One of the largest ever found jade disks, bi, Qijia culture
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, and stone. Note the larger size (74 cm).
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