Lot 922, A very rare set of white jade sword fittings, Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 8). Estimate $80,000 – $120,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The set is comprised of a sword guard well carved on each side with a median ridge that centers a taotie mask flanked by C-scrolls, which is still attached to a section of the original iron sword, and a similarly well-carved slide with formalized scroll decoration and a taotie mask at one end, still attached to the sheath and sword. The third fitting is a pommel carved on top in high relief with two chilong circling the domed center which is incised with scrolls, while the underside is pierced with three small attachment holes. Guard 2 5/8 in. (5.8 cm.) long; slide 3 3/8 in. (8.7 cm.) long; pommel 2 ¼ in. (5.7 cm.) diam.

Provenance: B.K. Wong, Hong Kong, 15 February 1995.

Literature: Nicole De Bisscop, Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Brussels, 1995, p. 69, no. 34.

Exhibited: Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Kredietbank Gallery, Brussels, 25 October - 17 December 1995; Kredietbank Luxembourg, 1 February - 13 April 1996, no. 34.

Notes: The dragons depicted on the pommel radiate exceptional strength, accentuated by their spherical bulging eyes and their well-delineated backs, which are superbly carved giving a sense of being highly extended and taut. The decoration on the pommel is a classic example of the great skill of the Han artists exemplified by the high quality of the relief carving which creates the impression is of the dragons having jumped onto the pommel in order to provide the warrior with strength and render the warrior invincible. A jade sword pommel, also decorated with two chilong similarly carved in high relief circling a central boss inscribed with similar scrolls, from the tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan, Mancheng, Hebei province, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 1, Beijing, 2005, p. 189. 
The decoration on the scabbard slide is similar to that seen on a Han dynasty example illustrated by J. Rawson inChinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 300, no. 21:12. The author notes that the quality of this slide may be compared to others found in the "high-ranking tombs of the Han aristocracy at Ding Xian in Hebei province." Also illustrated, p. 300, fig. 1, is a group of smaller slides that date from the Eastern Zhou and Han periods, 3rd to 1st century BC, which the author notes illustrates "the basic vocabulary of shape and decoration" of slides of this type. Another similar slide in the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection is illustrated by M. Loehr in Ancient Chinese Jades, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975, p. 312, no. 458. See, also, five similar slides of varying lengths illustrated by Bo Zhongmo in Guyu Jingying, Taiwan, 1989-90, pp. 166-68, pls. 84 and 85. 
The sword guard may be compared to one of the same shape with similar decoration of a central mask flanked by C-scrolls illustrated by Yang Boda in Chinese Archaic Jades from the Kwan Collection, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994, no. 212. See, also, the similar guard illustrated in Jades from the Tomb of the King of Nanyue, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 190.

Christie's. DONGXI STUDIO- IMPORTANT CHINESE JADE AND HARDSTONE CARVINGS FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION, 17 March 2016, New York, Rockefeller Plaza