Lot 66. A yellow and russet jade disc (bi), Neolithic period, 3rd-2nd millennium B.C. Diameter 4 3/4  in., 12 cm. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 USD. Lot Sold 6,875 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the circular disc with flat sides, pierced with a central aperture, of a softly polished stone slightly irregular in thickness and mottled with olive-green, ochre, yellow, and russet tones with feathery veining, with a patch of opaque dark brown to the edge.

Provenance: Collection of Roman Vishniac (1897-1990).

Note: Bi make up one of the major forms of archaic jades and were made in a range of sizes. They appear to have originated in China during the Neolithic period among the peoples of eastern China for whom beautifully finished discs were a major component of the jade repertoire. Various neolithic cultures produced bi, in particular the Liangzhu culture, which flourished in southeastern China in the 3rd millennium B.C. Jade discs similar to the present example were recovered from sites of the Liangzhu culture in present-day southeastern China. See Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade. From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pp. 130-136 and pp. 156-157.