Lot 919. A very rare white and russet jade hinged ornament, Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 8). Estimate $250,000 – $350,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016

The upper section is well carved in openwork as a dragon with backward-turned head standing triumphantly on the back of a bear, one of its paws resting on the top of the hinge and its upward-turned head carved in high relief on the reverse so that it centers the 'archer's thumb ring'-shaped pendant when the ornament is closed. The pendant is carved in openwork on one outer edge with a bird and on one side with a pattern of connected C-scrolls surrounding a trefoil repeated in higher relief on the otherwise plain reverse. The semi-translucent white stone has some areas of pale brown color and some opaque white mottling. 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm.) high overall, box

Provenance: B. K. Wong, Hong Kong, 17 January 1989.

Literature: Magic, Art and Order: Jade in Chinese Culture, Palm Springs Desert Museum, 1990, pp. 32 and 33, no. 21, and back cover.
Nicole De Bisscop, Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Brussels, pp. 54 and 55, no. 28.
Filippo Salviati, "The Dongxi Collection of Chinese Jade", Orientations, November 1995, p. 50, fig. 11.

Exhibited: Magic, Art and Order: Jade in Chinese Culture, Palm Springs Desert Museum, California, 1990, no. 21.
Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Kredietbank Gallery, Brussels, 25 October - 17 December 1995; Kredietbank Luxembourg, 1 February - 13 April 1996, no. 28.

Notes: Jade hinged ornaments of this early date are extremely rare, most likely due to the difficulty of carving them from one piece of jade. They were made in different forms, and may have had different uses, but most appear to have been made to be suspended, perhaps from a belt. 

An ornament (11.8 cm. long) in the shape of two rings joined by a loop and carved in high relief with chilong on one side and dragon patterns on the reverse, which is dated Han dynasty, is included in Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Jade Artifacts in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1982, no. 289. Two other ornaments in the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, dated late Eastern Zhou, are illustrated by M. Loehr in Ancient Chinese Jades, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. One (9 cm. long), p. 343, no. 508, is formed by two bi-like discs linked by a fluted ring, their sides carved with comma spirals, and with small openwork projections on the outer edges, of dragon heads on one and bird heads on the other. The second (8.7 cm. long), p. 343, no. 508, is a two-part ornament which looks as if it would have been suspended. Each half has a rectangular loop through which passes an oval ring hinge. The upper half is carved in openwork as a crouching dragon with raised head, the lower half carved as a bird with long curled tail feathers. The mouth of the dragon forms what may be a suspension hole, and the curved tip of the tail feathers may form a hook. Four discs with comma spiral decoration and openwork projections, which are joined by three carved beads, form another ornament (15.6 cm. long) in the British Museum, which is illustrated by J. Rawson and J. Ayers, Chinese Jades throughout the ages, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1975, p. 63, no. 170, where it is dated Eastern Zhou, 5th century BC. An even more elaborate ornament of greater length, 48 cm., is illustrated in Wenwu Cangpin Dingjibiaozhun tuli (Illustrated Important Chinese Cultural Relics Ranking Standard), Beijing, 2006, p. 94, pl. 60. Described as a pei-pendant and dated to the Warring States period, the ornament has multiple sections of various shapes linked by rings, and like the aforementioned ornaments would have been carved from one piece of jade. See, also, the drawing of a hinged ornament comprising openwork snakes and dragons from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng at Sui xian Leigudun, dated Eastern Zhou period, illustrated by J. Rawson in Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 67, fig. 53. This ornament has a shaped loop at the top and is joined by a loop/hinge to a pendent lower section.

The present ornament incorporates a hinged lower section that is in the shape of an 'archer's thumb ring' which is related to the shapes of the elaborate white jade ornamental pendants in the Qing Court Collection, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum - 40 - Jadeware (I), Hong Kong, 1995, pp. 226, 227 and 229, nos. 187, 188 and 190, where they are described as jade archer's rings. All of these have openwork decoration on the outer edges, and are dated to the Han dynasty. 

Christie's. DONGXI STUDIO- IMPORTANT CHINESE JADE AND HARDSTONE CARVINGS FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION, 17 March 2016, New York, Rockefeller Plaza