The tapering tablet delicately carved in double lines to depict archaic motifs of mythical beast and bird, the edges slightly bevelled, the reverse with a vertical raised rib at the centre incised with oracle bone script reading Zhui wang san nian zheng yue chu ji, the softly polished stone of olive-green tone with minor russet inclusions.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in 2010
The Songzhutang collection, no.22

Published and Illustrated: T.Fok, The Splendour of Jade: The Songzhutang Collection of Jade, Hong Kong, 2011, pl.20

Note: The inscription on the back reads Zhui wang san nian zheng yue chu ji (隹王三年正月初吉), which translates as 'the first auspicious day in the first month of the third year of the King's calendar'.

Administration by rites and ceremonies was a core part of consolidating, legitimising and asserting power under the Shang dynasty's political system. Ritual jades including jade ceremonial blades or tablets (gui), notched axes (qi) and halberd blades (ge) emerged in addition to the traditional bi and cong, and became important objects in life and death. Gui tablets were held by kings and the high nobility on ceremonial occasions. Large quantities of jade ritual wares were excavated from the Yin ruins at Anyang, most notably in Fu Hao's tomb which included hundreds of different kinds of jade implements including gui tablets. 

The present gui is remarkable for its unusual treatment of the mythical beast and bird motifs carefully utilising the carving techniques of both low relief and double-line incision, displaying an impressive craftsmanship.

Bonhams. THE SONGZHUTANG COLLECTION OF EARLY JADES from the Neolithic Period to the Yuan Dynasty, 30 May 2017, 14:00 HKT - HONG KONG, ADMIRALTY