Lot 348. Six early jade carvings, Western Zhou-Han Dynasty; 11.1cm (4 1/2in) diam. Sold for £ 44,000 (€ 52,050). (Estimate £ 4,000 - £6,000). © Bonhams 2001-2021

Comprising a smoothly-carved bi-disc, the stone of pale green tone with mottled white and brown patches, 10.8cm (4 1/4in) diam.; a small cong with square-cut exterior and cylindrical interior, the stone of olive-green tone with orange-russet patches, 4.5cm (1 3/4in) wide; a cicada, the stone of yellowish tone with extensive creamy-white calcification, 5.7cm (2 1/4in) long; a sword slide carved in shallow relief with a stylised mythical beast with eye and bushy eyebrows, archaic C-scrolls extending down the back, the stone of green tone with creamy patches, 7.4cm (3in) long; a huang pendant carved on both sides with archaic pommel patterns, the stone of warm amber tone, 8.5cm (3 1/4in) wide; and a disc incised with a stylised mythical animal, the stone of pale grey tone with some red pigment in the incisions, 3.7cm (1 1/2in) diam. 

Provenance: C. T. Loo, New York, 17 June 1948 (the cicada); June 1948 (the huang), Catalogue circa 1941-1942; Paris, January 1951 (the sword guard)
Mlle Densmore, Paris (the cong)
Mrs Gret Hasler (1895-1971), Winterthur, Switzerland, and thence by descent.

A trip to New York, Chicago and Washington in 1937 was the starting point for Mrs Gret Hasler's interest in Chinese art. This she continued until the Second World War by acquiring objects from dealers in Paris, Sweden and New York.

Note: Compare the jade cong with a similar example, Western Zhou dynasty, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (I), Hong Kong, 1995, p.94, no.78. See a similar jade carving of a cicada, Han dynasty, from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Ibid., p.232, no.193. For a similar jade huang, Spring and Autumn period, see Ibid., no.106.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art: Including Imperial and Court Textiles Curated by Linda Wrigglesworth, London, 2 november 2021