Lot 19. A pale green jade 'dragon and phoenix' pendant, Warring States Period (475-221 BC); 10.9cm (4 1/4in) long. Estimate HK$ 300,000-500,000. Sold for HK$ 500,000 (€ 59,311). Photo: Bonhams.

The flat plaque formed by a dragon surmounting a long pointed crescent-shaped phoenix, its head turned backwards with jaws opened revealing sharp fangs and biting on to the scrolling wing, the body's musculature finely carved in low relief and with a curved tapering tail, the stone of yellowish-green tone with brown inclusions.

Note: Xi pendants of this type were usually made as pairs and buried in tombs dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Those dated to the Spring and Autumn period resemble the shape of an animal's tooth or fang, while the ones dated to the Warring States period are usually more slender in form. Dragon-shaped pendants were developed from the late Warring States period to early Western Han dynasty.

Compare a similar dragon pendant excavated from the tomb in Beishantou in Anhui Province, dated Western Han dynasty, illustrated by Gu Fang, The Pictorial Handbook of Ancient Chinese Jades, Beijing, 2007, p.240. See also another related example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Art in Quest of Heaven and Truth – Chinese Jades Through the Ages, Taipei, 2012, p.84, pl.5-5-17; and another in the Aurora Museum, Taipei, illustrated by Tsai Ching-Liang, Jades of Han Dynasty, Taipei, 2005, pl.51.

A greenish-white jade dragon pendant, of similar form with a scrolling dragon atop a crescent-shaped terminal, dated Eastern Zhou dynasty, in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm E. McPherson, was sold at Christie's New York, 19 March 2008, lot 479.

Bonhams. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection of Chinese Jades, Hong Kong, 5 April 2016