Beschreibung:

Lot details China, 1100-771 BC. The arched ornament is neatly carved in relief depicting two human faces on both ends, with intertwining dragon bodies. The translucent stone is of a pale celadon tone with one larger area of creamy-white calcification as well as cloudy white inclusions and dark specks. Provenance: From the estate of Ivar Björnberg. One side with an old label, ‘76’. The low collector’s number on the present lot indicates a rather early acquisition date of the present lot, given the commonly known size of Björnberg’s complete collection, probably around 1980/90 or even earlier. Ivar Björnberg (1934-2021) was a noted art director from Stockholm, Sweden. He was friends with Victoria Lindström, a reputed dealer and collector of Chinese art, also based in Stockholm at the time. Björnberg worked at her gallery at a young age and when he eventually started his own collection, she mentored him. His collection was an academic one and it showed his keen eye, discerning taste and great passion for the aesthetics of Chinese art. Condition: Very good condition with ancient wear, tiny chips and nibbles which have smoothened over the centuries, signs of weathering and erosion. The surface of this jade feels remarkably soft and unctuous, a result of centuries of handling and appreciation, indicating an excavation that took place a long time ago. Weight: 23.3 g Dimensions: Length 8.8 cm Expert’s note: The unusual motif on this ornament, depicting two human faces with intertwining dragon bodies, can be found on a small number of Western Zhou jades. The closest example is a jade huang with similar human-dragon motifs in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji 2, Shang & Western Zhou, Shijiazhuang, 1993, plate 292. A rectangular jade ornament, in the Palace Museum Collection, bears a related single human-dragon motif and is illustrated ibidem, plate 280. Also compare a closely related but significantly more calcified jade huang from the Yangdetang collection, illustrated in Teng Shu-p’ing, Collectors’ Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, plate 129, and a related jade huang depicting two intertwining dragons with similarly combed hair, dating to the early Western Zhou period, excavated in Tengxian in Shandong province, and illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji 9, yuqi, Beijing, 1986, plate 83. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2017, lot 2746 Price: HKD 7,060,000 or approx. EUR 903,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A very rare white jade ‘human figure’ ornament, huang, Western Zhou dynasty Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and decoration with similar human faces and intertwining dragon bodies. Note the larger size (11.1 cm). Also note the remarkably well-preserved condition of this example, with significantly less calcification than the present lot. 西周青白玉人面紋璜 中國，公元前1100-771 年。弧形玉璜兩端雕刻工整，浮雕人面，龍身纏繞。半透明的玉料呈淡青色調，有較大面積的乳白色鈣化以及白色絮狀物和黑色斑點。 來源：斯德哥爾摩藝術經銷商Ivar Björnberg (1934-2021年)舊藏。一面有舊標籤 ‘76’。鑑於眾所周知Björnberg完整收藏的的規模，本拍品的收藏家編號表明本拍品的收購日期相當早，可能在 1980/90 年左右甚至更早。Ivar Björnberg他與著名的中國藝術品經銷商和收藏家Victoria Lindström是好友，後者當時也居住在斯德哥爾摩。 Björnberg 年輕時在她的畫廊工作，當他最終開始自己的收藏時，她給了他很多建議。 他的收藏是學術性的，顯示了他敏銳的眼光、挑剔的品味和對中國藝術美學的極大熱情。 品相：狀況非常好，有磨損、細小的磕損，幾個世紀以來已經變得光滑，有風化和侵蝕的跡象。這塊玉的表面摸起來非常柔軟瑩潤，說明這是很久以前的發掘。 重量：23.3 克 尺寸：長 8.8 厘米 專家注釋：這件飾物的圖案奇特，描繪了龍身交織的兩張人面，最接近的例子是故宮博物院收藏的一件類似人龍圖案的玉璜，見《中國玉器全集2 - 商西周》，石家莊，1993年，圖版292。故宮博物院收藏的長方形玉器，帶有 一個相似的單一人龍圖案，插圖同上，圖版 280。還比較了養德堂收藏的一件鈣化程度明顯更高的玉璜，插圖見 Teng Shu-ping，《Collectors' Exhibition of Collectors' Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades》，臺北故宮博物館，台北，1999 年，圖版 129，以及一件相似的玉皇，描繪了兩條纏繞在一起的龍，可追溯到西周早期，出土於山東省滕縣，並附有插圖《中國美術全集 9 – 玉器》，北京，1986年，圖 83。 拍賣結果比較： 形制：非常相近 拍賣：香港佳士得，2017年11月29日，lot 2746 價格：HKD 7,060,000（相當於今日EUR 903,000） 描述：西周白玉雙人面紋璜 專家評論：比較非常相近的外形和人面龍身裝飾。請注意尺寸較大 (11.1 厘米)，以及此玉璜保存完好，鈣化程度明顯低於我們的玉璜。