Lot 133. An Archaic Jade Flanged Disc, Possibly Neolithic, Hongshan Culture, 3500-2500 BCE; 2 3/4in (7cm) across. Sold for US$ 12,750 (€ 10,887). © Bonhams 2001-2021

The outer edge of the circular flattened disc carved with three blade like notches, each set with additional smaller notches, the center with a circular aperture, the greenish-yellow stone with areas of russet inclusions.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Literature: Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection, Chinese Jades, From Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, p. 33, no. 7

Note: A larger notched disc (5 inches diam.) with four truncated arcs sweeping out from the center in a symmetrical arrangement and dated to the Neolithic period, circa 3rd/2nd millennium BCE, is illustrated by J. J Lally & Co. Oriental Art, Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Jades and Works of Art, New York, 1994, no. 33 and is accompanied by a lengthy footnote regarding their production. The introduction to the catalogue also illustrates a line drawing of another notched disc from the Dawenkou-Longshan culture.

For further discussion of archaic notched discs, see Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, London, 1995, pp.160-163.

Lot 134. A Small Celadon Jade Blade, Possibly Neolithic, Hongshan Culture, 3500-2500 BCE; 3 1/2in (8.9cm) long. Sold for US$ 3,825 (€ 3,266). © Bonhams 2001-2021

The flattened stone carved into a halberd form with beveled cutting edge, the handle has a two-tier linear decoration with sharp pointing edge protruding on both sides, pierced at one end.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Literature: Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection, Chinese Jades, From Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, p. 33, no. 7

Note: For a jade staff dated to the Hongshan Culture with a handle of similar form to the profile of this example, see Christie's, Hong Kong, The Chang Wei-Hwa Collection of Archaic Jades, 27 November 2019, lot 2710, and illustrated in Pottery and Jades of China's Neolithic Age, Taipei, 2001, p. 114, no. 96.

Lot 135. A large Neolithic black jade blade, Circa 2500-2000 BCE; 3 1/2in (8.9cm) long. Sold for US$ 3,825 (€ 3,266). © Bonhams 2001-2021

Of trapezoidal shape, the blade is convex on both faces and tapers from the blade edge to the other end, finished in an extremely attractive high polish.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Literature: Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection, Chinese Jades, From Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, p. 28, no. 2.

Note: For two other examples see Christie's, Hong Kong, The Chang Wei-Hwa Collection of Archaic Jades, 27 November 2019, lot 2741 (a larger example, 13 5/8in long) and another, lot 2746.

For a green jade blade (9 1/8in long), see Christie's, Hong Kong, 8 October 2020, lot 221.

Lot 136. A Turquoise matrix tiger pendant, Shang-Western Zhou or later; 3 1/2in (8.9cm) long. Sold for US$ 7,650 (€ 6,532). © Bonhams 2001-2021

Carved in the round with a semi-recumbent tiger seated on its tucked legs with large open-mouthed head with large ears, the haunches neatly delineated with simple ridged scrolls, a tail curling upwards, the spine with v-shaped hatching which continues in stripes down the body.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Literature: Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection, Chinese Jades, From Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, p. 54, no. 48.

Note: For a jade tiger carved in the round and recovered from a Shang dynasty tomb, see Yinxu fu Hao mu (The Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang), 1980, reprint Beijing: Wenwu, 1984, p. 157, fig. 82, no. 6 (409), and pl. CXXXV, no. 2 (409).

For a jade tiger pendant dated to the mid Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BCE), see Liu Yang, Translucent World, Chinese Jade from the Forbidden City, Sydney, 2000, pp. 70-71, no. 22, where the author notes that the tiger was much favored over other animals and was represented (in jade) as early as the Shang dynasty and that most were depicted in a crouching pose. Eight examples were excavated from the Fuhao tomb at Anyang, Henan. However, by the Eastern Zhou period (770-256 BCE), production reached its pinnacle and waned from then on until revived during the Liao (907-1125 CE) and Jin (1115-1234 CE) periods.

See also Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, 1995, London, British Museum, p. 214, no. 12:8, for a more thinly cut jade tiger pendant.

Lot 137. An olive-Green and calcified Jade Praying Mantis pendant, Shang dynasty or later; 2 7/8in (7cm) long. Sold for US$ 15,300 (€ 13,064). © Bonhams 2001-2021

The stylized mantis shown with conical body neatly delineated with ridged scrolls forming the wings and simple channels to highlight the two large forelegs, a short neck and simply formed head with large relief eyes, one side almost entirely calcified, pierced through the forelegs for suspension, traces of red pigment.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Literature: Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection, Chinese Jades, From Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, p. 48, no. 36.

Note: For a similar carving of a praying mantis, see Yinxu fu Hao mu (The Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang), 1980, reprint Beijing: Wenwu, 1984, p. 165, fig. 85, no. 7 (382), and pl. CXXXIX, no. 1 (382). As a result of burial, the deep olive-green stone has been calcified to an opaque beige on its left side. Some residue of powdered ochre remains on the surface of the stone, which has an overall soft medium polish.

Another insect of similar form but described as a grasshopper is illustrated by Liu Yang, Translucent World, Chinese Jade from the Forbidden City, Sydney, 2000, p.60, no. 14, where the author, citing the publication above, notes that the earliest known jade grasshopper pendant was excavated from the Fuhao tomb at Anyang in Henan (late 13th century BCE) and that jade grasshoppers from this period are normally about 6-8 cm. in length and carved out of a yellowish or greenish stone.

Lot 138. A grey-celadon, russet and black Jade owl pendant, Shang dynasty or later; 2 1/16in (5.3cm) high. Sold for US$ 44,062 (€ 37,624). © Bonhams 2001-2021

Carved in the round to depict a standing owl, the body neatly delineated with ridged scrolls forming the wings and feathers, the upward-looking head with hooked beak and large eyes on the upper surface below a notched crest with horizontal hole for suspension, the spine with similar notches.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Literature: Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection, Chinese Jades, From Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, p. 49, no. 39.

Note: For a similar bird carving, see Yinxu fu Hao mu (The Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang), 1980, reprint Beijing: Wenwu, 1984, p. 165, fig. 85, no. 9 (507), and color pl. XXXI, no. 1 (507).

Another green jade owl dated to the late Shang dynasty (ca. 14th-mid-11th century BCE) was sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, Chinese Archaic Jades from the Yangdetang Collection, Part II, 28 November 2018, lot 2720. Though lacking the notched spine of our example, the decoration bears comparison. Another bird pendant, with the addition of a tall overlapping foliate headdress, dated to the Shang dynasty is illustrated by Liu Yang, Translucent World, Chinese Jade from the Forbidden City, Sydney, 2000, p. 58, no. 11, can also be compared.

The owl as a decorative motif commonly appears on bronze vessels of the Shang dynasty and early jades were inspired by such vessels, see William Watson, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, London, 1962, pls. 13a, 36b and 36c for the bronze pre-cursors. For a closely related jade owl of slightly larger proportions (6.5 cm. high), unearthed in Fuhao's tomb in Anyang, see Zhongguo yuqi quanji, 'Compendium of Chinese Jade', (Shang/Western Zhou), Vol. 2, Hebei, 1993, p. 65, no. 82.

A celadon and russet jade owl dated to the Shang dynasty also from the Robert P. Youngman Collection was offered at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3 April 2019, lot 3416.

Lot 139. A Jade Three-section Disc, Huang, Zhou dynasty; 6 1/4in (16cm) diameter. Sold for US$ 22,812 (€ 19,479). © Bonhams 2001-2021

Carved in three sections, each lightly engraved with raised patterns of four stylistic dragons, with notches and holes cut for attachment, the semi-translucent stone of yellow and green tone with some alterations near the edges.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Note: For a number of arc-shaped pendants, huang, dating to the Western Zhou period which bear comparison, see Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, London, 1995, pp. 237-243, no's. 14:4 and 14:6, each with a characteristic dragon scrolling design.

For other examples of Western and Eastern Zhou disc-segments of this type, see Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1975, pp.218-219 and p. 235, no's. 325-327 and 349 respectively.

Lot 140. Two Archaic Jade Silkworm Pendants, Western Zhou dynasty; 1 1/8in (3cm), 1 1/2in (3.7cm) long. Sold for US$ 3,570 (€ 3,048). © Bonhams 2001-2021

The first one of a naturalistic curved silkworm shape with a ribbed body tapering to a pointed tail, the second with similar carving but a straight body, each has a pierced hole at one end.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art, New York, 2016.

Literature: J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art, Ancient China, Jades, Bronzes and Ceramics, March-April 2016, New York, 2016, no. 31.

Note: A comparison with a group of silkworm form pendants of similar design excavated at the Western Zhou Yu State burial site at Zhuyuangou, Baoji, Shaanxi province is fruitful, see Liancheng Lu and Zhisheng Hu, Baoji Yuguo mudi (Yu State Cemetries in Baoji), Vol. 2, Beijing, 1988.

For three other examples dated to the Western Zhou dynasty, see Sotheby's, Hong Kong, The Robert Youngman Collection of Chinese Jade, 3 April 2019, lot 3409, where the rarity of these silkworm pendants are noted. For a single example, see Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1975, p. 212, no. 310.

Lot 141. A Small Celadon and Russet Jade Bird Pendant Western Zhou dynasty; 1 1/8in (3cm), 2 1/2in (6.2cm) long. Sold for US$ 6,375 (€ 5,443). © Bonhams 2001-2021

The flat stone worked in the form of a bird, finely carved with fluent lines depicting a small head, open beak, closed wings, curled tail, and tucked feet, one pierced hole in the chest, the stone of pale green tone with the edge of russet inclusion.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Provenance: Michael Gulbenkian Collection.
Sotheby's, London, Important Chinese Art, 6 November 2019, lot 228.

Note: For another example of similar form attributed to the Western Zhou dynasty, see Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1975, p. 198, no. 270.

Lot 142. A stylized partially calcified celadon jade cicada, Han dynasty; 2in (5cm) long. Sold for US$ 3,825 (€ 3,266). © Bonhams 2001-2021

Highly stylized cicada form with crisply carved facets, together with the two incised lines near the top and a small notch in the center near the upper section forming the body parts of the insect, the other side undecorated.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Note: Jade burial cicada's come in a variety of types from the more detailed and naturalistic type, as illustrated by Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, London, 1995, p. 319, no. 24:8, to the more minimal in design, as in our example, with a few minor engraved cuts to show a simplified stylized form. For another cicada akin in simplicity to ours, see a dark olive-green example dated to the late Western Han or early Eastern Han (1st century BCE - 2nd Century CE) sold at Christie's, New York, Dongxi Studio - Important Chinese Jade and Hardstone Carvings from a Distinguished Private Collection, 2016, lot 934, where reference is also made to three other cicada carvings published in Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Jade Artifacts in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1982, pp.148-149, no's. 247, 250 and 252.

Lot 143. An Ocre and Yellow Jade Bird Finial Han dynasty or later; 2 1/8in (5.5cm) across. Sold for US$ 7,650 (€ 6,532). © Bonhams 2001-2021

The hook-beaked bird looking over its back with simple channeled folded back wings utilizing the Han badou technique and similar horizontally-cut long tail feathers, the claws modelled atop a cylindrical hollow base, the matte stone with a dry appearance.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Literature: Michael B. Weisbrod, Inc., Metal, Mud and Minerals: An Exhibition of Chinese Works of Art, New York, 1989, no. 51
Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection, Chinese Jades, From Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, p. 81, no. 79

Note: According to Youngman, ibid., p. 81, bird finials like this one were mounted atop staffs that were given to and carried by men upon reaching the age of seventy years of age. The lines of its wings and tail feathers are boldly delineated with pronounced cuts that are perpendicular on one side and slanting on the other, forming a stepped effect, in a style that is known as Han badou (Han eight cuts).

For a later Song dynasty (960-1279 CE) jade bird finial utilizing the Han badou technique also from the Robert Youngman Collection, see Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 3 April 2019, lot 3421.

Lot 144. An olive-green nephrite jade disc, yuan, Western Han dynasty; 9in (22.8cm) diameter. Sold for US$ 7,012 (€ 5,987). © Bonhams 2001-2021

Carved with a large central aperture and incised on both sides with a continuous band of comma-spirals enclosed in a single cut line near the well-polished edges of the inner and outer rim, the stone a pale olive-green color with inclusions and alterationsProperty from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Note: For a smaller jade ring, yuan, dated to the slightly earlier Warring States period, see J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art, Ancient China, Jades, Bronzes and Ceramics, March-April 1999, New York, 1994, no. 20, where a comparison is drawn with another ring, yuan, illustrated by A. Salmony, Archaic Chinese Jades from the Collection of Edward and Louise B. Sonnenscein, Art Institute of Chicago, 1952, p. 202, pl. LXXIV, no. 2.

For further discussion on discs of the Eastern Zhou and Han periods, see Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, London, 1995, pp. 246-256, no's. 15:1, 15:2 and 17.2 where various yuan and bi discs are illustrated

Lot 145. An elegant semi-translucent olive-green nephrite jade Disc, bi, Western Han dynasty (202 BC–9 AD); 9 1/8in (23.1cm) diameter. Sold for US$ 15,300 (€ 13,064). © Bonhams 2001-2021

Finely carved on both sides with an inner band of facetted bosses in a network of regular narrow grooves under a wide band of four taotie masks with long horns and and interlocking snake-like bodies, the two friezes separated by a narrow twisted rope band repeated next to the small central aperture, the stone a mottled dark green color.

Property from the Estate of Robert P. Youngman.

Note: For a near identical engraved green jade disc, bi, see J. J Lally & Co. Oriental Art, Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Jades and Works of Art, New York, 1994, no. 42. The Lally example is just slightly smaller than ours. The catalogue entry notes that such discs as these have been excavated from the famous royal Han tombs of Prince Liu Sheng and his consort Dou Wan at Mancheng, Hebei province, dated to the second century BCE. A comparison is drawn with two jade bi with similar engraved taotie design around the outer edge and similar working of the spirals illustrated in Mancheng Han mu fajue baoao (Report on the excavation of the Han tombs at Mancheng), Vol. II, pl. 96 and 209.

Other bi discs of this type are illustrated by Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975, no's. 533 and 534; and Rene-Yvon Lefebvre, Chinese Jades in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1970, pl. XXI.

See a comparable disc sold at Christie's New York, 16 March, 2007, lot 1063, and another pale green jade disc published by J.J. Lally & Co., New York, Ancient Chinese Jade, March 2018, no. 131.

Bonhams. Chinese Ceramics, Works of Art and Paintings, New York, 20 Sep 2021