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Expert’s Note
The well-established David Taylor provenance effectively excludes the possibility that these objects are modern reproductions and establishes an age of around one 100 years at least. However, archaistic copies of Shang- and Zhou-dynasty objects were produced in China at least as early as the Song dynasty. In the absence of closely comparable examples in jade, a definitive dating therefore remains impossible, although the physical evidence supports the archaic attribution proposed in the title.
Particularly compelling is the extensive burial patina, whose complex character would be exceedingly difficult to reproduce artificially. Subsequent handling has evidently produced a remarkably smooth surface and subtle darkening in frequently touched areas, suggesting that the objects passed through several collectors’ hands after excavation.
Other areas show remarkably deep erosion. Comparison with a securely provenanced Han-dynasty jade pig from the former Rousset collection (fig. 1) is instructive: there, virtually pristine surfaces occur immediately beside severe burial alteration. Closely comparable phenomena appear on the present zun. This combination of preserved surfaces, profound erosion, burial patina, and subsequent handling wear is entirely consistent with objects that remained underground for a very considerable period before excavation.
China. Each standing foursquare with a naturalistically rendered body extending into a small, leaf-like tail and a powerfully modeled head, distinguished by bulging eyes and a prominent snout with a closed mouth revealing serrated teeth, flanked by upright pointed ears, and surmounted by a raised mane. The surfaces of both figures are neatly incised with scroll motifs along the sides of the bodies, together with scale-like ornamentation. The finely polished, opaque stone is of a light brown hue with russet patches resulting from intense mineralization, consistent with long-term burial conditions. (2)
Provenance: From the collection of David Taylor (1876-1958), passed down through the Taylor family to his descendants. David Taylor (1876-1958), a prominent British businessman based in Belfast, 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.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, deep traces of weathering and erosion, minor chips and losses to exposed areas, scattered remnants of red ritual pigment, few old fills, signs of prolonged burial, encrustations.
Weight: 993 and 999 g
Dimensions: Length 15.1 cm and 15.7 cm
The present lot takes its form from an exceedingly rare bronze wine vessel (zun) in the shape of a boar, dating to the late Shang dynasty, excavated in 1981 at Chuanxing Mountain, Jiuhua Village, Xiangtan County, Hunan Province, now preserved in the Hunan Museum.
Oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang capital indicate that pigs were raised by virtually every household and regularly employed in sacrificial rites. Among elite lineages, they ranked among the most esteemed animals offered to deities and ancestral spirits, underscoring their ritual and symbolic importance in ancient China.
A later work similarly based on this Shang prototype is a turquoise-glazed boar-form vessel with bird-shaped cover, dated to the Kangxi period, at Christie’s London, 14 May 2019, lot 150, sold for 43,750 pounds. The piece reflects the enduring Chinese predilection for archaism in the ceramic arts, a tradition that can be traced back to the Han dynasty and that experienced a particularly significant revival during the Northern Song period. This antiquarian impulse remained especially vibrant throughout the Ming and early Qing dynasties, when ancient bronze prototypes once again served as an important source of inspiration for artisans, who consciously reinterpreted archaic forms and decorative motifs across a wide range of media and materials, producing works that evoked and celebrated the cultural legacy of the distant past of China.
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