THREE HUANG WITH DRAGONS
THREE HUANG WITH DRAGONS
Jade
China, Eastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn (771-476 BC), 6th to 5th century BC
This jade is published in Filippo Salviati 4000 YEARS OF CHINESE ARCHAIC JADES Edition Zacke, Vienna 2017, no. 189
Each of the three pendants is carved with an identical image: two dragon heads in profile facing outwards are incised at the extremities, while the central portion of each huang is decorated with angular scrolls recalling the shape of the letters “C” and “S”. The entire contour of the three pendants is further decorated with regular notches while two small holes, which were drilled at each extremity just below the snout of the dragon, were made to suspend the huang. When hung, the extremities of these three ornaments would have been turned upwards. It is also possible that they were worn as separate pendants, combined together and with other elements to form elaborate pectorals. In stylistic terms, the decoration is reminiscent of the decorative vocabulary of the late Western Zhou period, though the stylized dragon heads and the use of geometric scroll-like motifs indicate an Eastern Zhou date, between the end of the Spring and Autumn period and the beginning of the following Warring States phase. The white, transparent jade used is of fine quality, though the surface is altered in many areas due to prolonged interment.
Dimensions: WIDTH 14.3 CM
Condition: Undamaged
Provenance: Austrian-Chinese private collection, acquired before 1980