Lot 116. A rare Neolithic pale green jade curved and ribbed ornament, Hongshan culture, circa 3500-3000 BCE; 4 1/4in high; 3 1/2in at the widest end and 2 5/8in at the narrow end (10.8cm x 8.9cm x 6.6cm). Sold for US$40,695 (Estimate US$10,000-15,000). © Bonhams 2001-2023

Probably an arm ornament, of C-shaped profile, the trapezoidal underside plain and the arched outer surface with six wide channels divided by vertical ribs, the narrow end of the curling ornament with two small, pierced holes and the wider upper section finished with two crescents, the tips of which have small areas of russet-toned inclusions.

Property from The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

Provenance: James Freeman, 1998

Note: It is extremely rare to see a piece of Hongshan jade carving of this quality and size. The choice of the stone and the execution of this brilliant form exemplifies the sophistication of Hongshan jades.

Compare the shield-form jade ornament, similarly curved and ribbed, excavated from the Niuheliang site, illustrated by Xiaoneng Yang (ed), The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People's Republic of China, Washington, 1999, p. 94, no. 19, noted by the author that "more recent publication places it on the tomb occupant's upper arm."

Compare also the curved and ribbed ornament from the Winthrop Collection, now in the collection of the Harvard Art Museum, illustrated by Jenny F. So in Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 2019, pp. 74-75, no. 1, with an enlarged photo on p. 16. The attribution of the Harvard example became possible because of the excavations of the Niuheliang site (3500-3000 BCE), a burial and sacrificial center in the late Hongshan period, well-preserved with a rich variety of artifacts. So further noted, op. cit., "Objects made with this fine-grained nephrite are rare, even in early northeastern contexts."

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, New York, March 20, 2023