China, circa 3300-2200 BC. The thick yet mostly translucent blade elegantly shaped, its rectangular form broadening slightly toward the sharp beveled edge, pierced from both sides with a hafting hole and applied with a semi-circular notch at the base. The translucent jade is of a bright yellowish green hue with dark gray clouding, icy and russet veining, and areas of calcification.
Provenance: From the Sam and Myrna Myers Collection. Sam and Myrna are first generation Americans, who shared a taste for collecting beautiful objects of art. On a trip to Ascona, Switzerland, the couple stumbled into a small antique shop which started their journey of collecting antiques. When Sam Myers was sent to Paris by his law firm in the mid-1960s, he and his wife Myrna became so enamored with the city that they decided to make it their home. There, over the course of 50 years, they built an extraordinary art collection, and in 1976, Myrna opened a gallery in Paris specializing in Asian art. Their collection spans a wide range of precious objects from Chinese jades, ceramics, textiles, Indian ivory carvings, to Japanese clothing and lacquer, some of which was exhibited in the Kimbell Art Museum. Part of their collection was sold at Sotheby’s, London ‘Two Americans in Paris, The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers’, on 4 November 2021. The couple also worked together with jade expert Filippo Salviati to create one of the most outstanding jade collections globally and authored several books on jade, including ‘Radiant Stones’ (2000), ‘The Language of Adornment’ (2002) and ‘Genèse de l’empire céleste’ (2020).
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, signs of weathering and erosion, and some smoothened blemishes to one side.
Weight: 329 g
Dimensions: Length 17.9 cm
Literature comparison:
Compare a related russet jade ceremonial axe, Fu, 16.3 cm long, dated to the Neolithic period, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F1916.498.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 October 2023, lot 3711
Price: HKD 279,400 or approx. EUR 33,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large mottled green jade ceremonial axe, Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and mottling of the stone. Note the similar size (20.6 cm).
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