Description: Jade. China, Han Dynasty, 2nd - 1st century BC 穀紋玉璧 - 漢代,公元前2世紀-前1世紀
Contrary to discs nos.44 and 45 in this auction, the Han period disc shown here is not decorated with the usual pattern of incised or slightly raised spirals that is commonly seen on this type of jades: in fact, the curls are substituted by neatly carved rows of semicircular bosses in low relief that entirely cover both sides of the disc. As usual, two narrow, plain bands delineate the small central hole and the perimeter of the disc: the incised lines that delimit the borders are rather coarse compared to the subtlety and precision that dominate the rest of the simple yet effective decorative pattern. As with all jades, the intrinsic beauty can best be seen when the disc is held to the light: the raised bosses appear as lighter dots against the translucent amber background that is crossed by diffused areas of dark brown, red and black.
The closest comparable example is a larger disc (16 cm in diameter) covered with the same pattern of raised bumps in the Sir Joseph Hotung collection and exhibited in the British Museum, London: it is described in J. Rawson, Chinese Jade. From the Neolithic to the Qing, London 1995, no.15:3. A second similar disc is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession number 50.145.141.
Provenance: From an old Austrian collection
DIAMETER 10 CM - HOLE 1.8 CM 直径10 厘米 - 孔徑1.8 厘米
Expertise: Univ. Prof. Filippo Salviati
All jades in this catalogue have been professionally examined, authenticated and dated by Univ. Prof. Filippo Salviati. Professor Salviati teaches Chinese and Korean art at Sapienza University in Rome, in the Italian Institute of Oriental Studies. He is a world expert on archaic Chinese jades, having released multiple publications and being cited by renowned auction houses such as Sotheby’s.