Lot 126. A celadon and gray jade 'Archers-thumb-ring' formed pendant, Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 9); 2in (5cm) across. Estimate US$ 2,000 - 4,000. Sold for US$ 20,312 (£ 14,806). Courtesy Bonhams.

Of unusual semi-arched form pierced with a cylindrical opening suggestive of an 'archer's thum ring, and carved in low relief to the upper section with a striding chilong coiling around the cylindrical opening, the underside with a cursory scroll design.

Note: For a somewhat similar example from the Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., see Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty, New York, 1963, p. 128-129, Pl. XVII-1 and dated to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

For a more crisply-cut and elaborate jade 'archer's ring' ornament dating to the Western Han Dynasty see, J. J. Lally & Co., Ancient Chinese Jade, March, 2018, no. 126. Another is illustrated by Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480-222 B.C., Washington, D.C., 1982, p. 164, no. 111.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese and Japanese Works of Art Part II, 14 Dec 2020, Los Angeles