Lot 381. A rare white jade terrapin, Neolithic period, Dawenkou culture (4000-2200 BC); 3.6 and 3.7 cm, 1 3/8  and 1 1/2  in. Estimate 30,000 — 40,000 HKD. Lot sold 300,000 HKD (34,186 EUR). Courtesy Sotheby's.

the flattened pebble worked in the form of a terrapin with round eyes and a pointed nose, detailed with toed flippers and a short curved tail, the animal's back pierced with a circular aperture, the stone of a translucent white tone. 

Property from the Peony Collection.

Exhibited: Angus Forsyth and Brian McElney, Jades from China, The Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, 1994, cat. no. 52.

Note: The current pendant, worked from a translucent white stone as a soft-shelled terrapin, is accentuated with well-defined outlines and subtle contours. Other white jade examples from the Neolithic period have been excavated in the Lake Baikal area of southern Siberia.

Sotheby's. CHINA / 5000 YEARS, Hong Kong, 05 June 2020