Lot 201. Property from a Hawai private collection. A rare archaic dark green jade ceremonial blade (Yazhang), Late Neolithic period. Length 34.5 cm. Estimate 5,000 - 8,000 USD. Lot Sold 19,050 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: E&J Frankel, New York, 1980-81.

Note: See a closely related jade blade of a slightly smaller size, attributed to the Neolithic period, Shimao culture, Shaanxi province, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published on the Museum's website (accession no. 新00125945). Compare also a similar dark green blade from the Junkunc Collection, sold in these rooms, 27th September 2021, lot 521; one formerly in the collection of Arthur M. Sackler, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 11th July 2020, lot 121; and another formerly in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bull, sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2019, lot 210. 

Lot 202. Property from a Hawai private collection. A rare fragment of an archaic dark green jade ceremonial blade (Yazhang), Late Neolithic period - Shang dynasty. Length 24.8 cm, plexiglass stand (2). Estimate 5,000 - 8,000 USD. Lot Sold 57,150 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Collection of Conrad W. Anner (1889-1960).
Collection of Stanley Charles Nott (1902-1969).
Nott Family Collection.
Christie's New York, 20th-21st November 1979, lot 440.
E&J Frankel, New York, 1980-81.

Note: Jade blades of this form carved with teeth-like notches are called yazhang, a term first used by the eminent late Qing dynasty scholar collector Wu Dacheng (1835-1902) in his book Guyu tukao [Study of ancient jade]. Yazhang were first produced during the Neolithic period. The production of yazhang was popular in the Xia and Shang dynasties and the geographic distribution of this blade type is surprisingly wide, including Shandong, Shaanxi, Henan, and Sichuan provinces. The function of yazhang has been an area of discussion, and interpretations of it as a military implement have been suggested in ancient texts such as the Zhouli [Rites of Zhou], as well as Zheng Xuan's commentaries in the Eastern Han dynasty. Blades of this form are often of large size and are finely and thinly carved suggesting a ceremonial function, which is consistent with the archaeological excavation findings of yazhang from sacrificial pits.

Compare two jade yazhang of this type, excavated at Shimao, Shenmu county, Shaanxi province, attributed to the later phase of the Longshan culture, now in the Shaanxi History Museum, Xi'an, published in Liu Yunhui, ed., Zhongguo chutu yuqi quanji / The Complete Collection of Unearthed Jades in China, vol. 14, Beijing, 2005, pl. 18. See also a Shang dynasty example, formerly in the collection of Alfred F. Pillsbury, bequeathed to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, published on the Museum's website (accession no. 50.46.392). For auctioned examples, see one from the David-Weill Collection, attributed to Neolithic period to early Shang dynasty, sold in our Paris rooms, 16th December 2015, lot 14; and another from the Chang Wei-Hwa Collection, attributed to the Erlitou culture or slightly earlier, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2020, lot 2702. 

Lot 204. An archaic mottled brown and celadon jade disc (Bi), Neolithic period, Qijia culture. Diameter 15.9 cm, Japanese wood box (3). Estimate 5,000 - 8,000 USD. Lot Sold 25,400 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Collection of A.W. Bahr (1877-1959), 1963.
Collection of Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987).
Christie's New York, 14th-15th September 2009, lot 40.
Linyushanren Collection.

Note: Compare three jade bi of a very similar stone from the Qijia culture, excavated from Houliugou village, Jingning county, Gansu province, now preserved in the Jingning Museum, illustrated in Ye Maolin et al., ed., Zhongguo chutu yuqi quanji / The Complete Collection of Unearthed Jades in China, vol. 15, Beijing, 2005, pls 3, 4, and 5, together with another similar example, discovered in Huangniangniangtai, Wuwei city, Gansu province, now in the Gansu Provincial Museum, pl. 1. 

Lot 218. Property from a distinguish private collection. An archaic green jade cloud-shaped pendant, Neolithic period, Hongshan culture. Length 8.1 cm. Estimate 15,000 - 20,000 USD. Lot Sold 31,750 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Chang Wei-Hwa, prior to 2000.

Lot 233. Property from a distinguish private collection. An archaic celadon jade bird-form pendant, Neolithic period, Hongshan culture. Length 4.2 cm. Estimate 20,000 - 30,000 USD. Lot Sold 40,640 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Myrna Myers, Paris, circa 2003.

Note: See a similar jade pendant from the collection of Stephen Junkunc, III, sold in these rooms, 19th March 2019, lot 144 and another slightly larger one sold in our Paris rooms, 10th June 2021, lot 90.

Lot 235. Property from a distinguish private collection. An archaic green jade scepter, Neolithic period, Hongshan culture. Length 20.2 cm. Estimate 50,000 - 70,000 USD. Lot Sold 57,150 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Yijiuchao Tang, prior to 2000.

Note: See a closely related jade example, with the same curved hook and two horizontal grooves below, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. 購玉000404N000000000); another with a shorter shaft, excavated from the tomb of Fu Hao at Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan province, and included in Wu Ding yu Fu Hao: Yin Shang shengshi wenhua yishu tezhan / King Wu Ding and Lady Hao: Art and Culture of the Late Shang Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, no. III-3. Attributed to the late Hongshan culture, the unique decoration of the jade is commonly accepted as a later, more abstract form of a mythical eagle's head with a long and thick beak. Thought to posses powers of transcending both the mythical and human realms, the eagle's head, when placed on a long shaft, such as the present lot, is seen as a scepter of rulership and was included in ritual rites given its powers to call upon the divine. 

Lot 236. Property from a distinguish private collection. An archaic grey jade silk-worm-form pendant, Neolithic period, Hongshan culture. Width 6.7 cm. Estimate 30,000 - 50,000 USD. Lot Sold 66,040 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Acquired prior to 2000.

Exhibited: Wu Tanghai, Hongshan yuqi / Jades of Hongshan Culture, Aurora Art Museum, Taipei, 2007, cat. no. 65. 

Lot 244. Property from a distinguish private collection. An archaic celadon jade cloud-shaped pendant, Neolithic period, Hongshan culture. Width 10.3 cm. Estimate 30,000 - 50,000 USD. Unsold. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Chang Wei-Hwa, prior to 2000.

Lot 246. Property from a distinguish private collection. An archaic celadon jade cong, Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture. Diameter 10.1 cm. Estimate 20,000 - 30,000 USD. Lot Sold 22,860 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Myrna Myers, Paris, circa 2003.

Lot 258. Property from a distinguish private collection. An archaic green jade 'eagle' pendant, Neolithic period, Hongshan culture. Width 8.1 cm. Estimate 8,000 - 12,000 USD. Lot Sold 5,334 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Chang Wei-Hwa, prior to 2000.

Lot 259. Property from a distinguish private collection. An archaic green jade 'head' pendant , Neolithic period, Hongshan culture. Width 6 cm. Estimate 15,000 - 20,000 USD. Lot Sold 9,525 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Chang Wei-Hwa, prior to 2000.

Lot 260. Property from a distinguish private collection. Two archaic celadon jade beads, Neolithic period, Hongshan culture. Length of longer 7.9 cm. Estimate 5,000 - 7,000 USD. Lot Sold 5,715 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Acquired prior to 2000.

Lot 261. Property from a distinguish private collection. An archaic celadon jade pendant, Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture. Length 7.2 cm. Estimate 4,000 - 6,000 USD. Lot Sold 6,350 USD. © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 2018.

Exhibited: Ancient Chinese Jade, J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 2018, cat. no. 33. 

Sotheby's. Vestiges of Ancient China, New York, 19 September 2023