China, Shang Dynasty, ca. 1558 to 1046 BCE. This is a gorgeous mostly white jade (nephrite) mask with a pale green stripe of the mineral going down its face. The features include wide, staring eyes and an expressive mouth as well as what appears to be some kind of head adornment. There is a hole drilled near the top for suspension. Jade carving had already been taking place for 2000 years in China by the time of the Shang, and jades carvings as gifts, ceremonially, and religiously. Size: 2.1" L x 3.2" W x 4.6" H (5.3 cm x 8.1 cm x 11.7 cm).
Chinese art has incorporated jade since the Neolithic period; quarries for nephrite, the formal name for jade, have been found in modern-day southern Mongolia that date to ca. 4000 BCE. The stone was prized for its hardness, its beautiful coloration (with a milky white being the most desired), and its durability. By the third millennium BCE, we know that jade had also come to be associated with immortality. Jade was used to make everything from everyday household objects and decoration to the ceremonial suits in which Han dynasty emperors were buried – with the belief that jade would preserve the body and the soul for eternity.
Provenance: Ex-estate of Dr. Peter Arnovick, Los Altos, CA
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#112209
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Beautiful condition with almost no wear and completely intact.