Beschreibung:

AN IMPRESSIVE EARLY BRONZE AGE NOTCHED DISC IN GREEN JADE Katalognummer: JAK0318-012 Jade China Early Bronze Age, ca 2200-1600 BC 玉牙璧 - 青銅器時代早期公元前 2200-1600年 WIDTH 22 CM 寬 22 厘米 Notched discs (called yabi 牙璧 in Chinese, or ‘toothed discs’) form a particular yet little understood category of jades that were crafted in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age periods. These discs, derived from earlier and smaller Neolithic prototypes, are usually provided with three protrusions carved at regular distances around the border, each accompanied by a group of notches. Instead, the present, quite substantial example is carved with four indentations, a feature rarely seen on notched discs but known through other examples, such as a few yabi in the National Palace Museum collection, in Taipei, Taiwan. The present notched disc is carved from a beautiful variety of green jade: the polished and quite smooth surface presents considerable alterations, especially in the areas along the edge, and many mottled patches of beige and light brown. The central hole is smooth and slightly rounded, while the surface and edges are a bit irregular, with some chips along the outer edge. One of the above-mentioned discs with four notches in the National Place Museum in Taipei is illustrated in Gugong gu yu tu lu 故宫古玉圖錄 (Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Jade Artefacts), National Palace Museum, Taipei 1988, no.217. A yabi of equal size but carved more roughly and with only three large projections was found in 1989 in a late Neolithic site at Dantu, Wulian county, Shandong province. Startpreis 起始價: € 3.200 Schätzpreis 估計/估算: € 6.400 Expertise: Prof. Filippo Salviati From a German collection All jades in this catalogue have been professionally examined, authenticated and described by 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. The microscopic images made available here, show that the weathering of the jade has occurred over a long period of time. Furthermore in the magnification one can reconstruct the workings of the jade. The two aforementioned criteria are exactly what counts in the authentication of archaic jades – the difficult and elaborate workmanship by hand and the subsequent weathering of the jade over centuries. The microscopic enlargements show how the patterns were ground out in many small steps, sometimes over months, and that the weathering actually occurs above the carvings, meaning it occurred after the jade was completed.