A PALE GREEN JADE TURTLE, NEOLITHIC PERIOD, HONGSHAN CULTURE

Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, and thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to 4700-2500 BC. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed copy of Dr. Gu's expertise, dated 29 June 2018, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Gu Fang (born 1962) is an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese art and a leading authority on jades. He graduated from the Department of Archaeology at the prestigious Beijing University in 1986 and later studied at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), where he now serves as a Senior Fellow specializing in archaeological excavations and Chinese jade research. A former visiting scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he has authored several books on Chinese jades, including the 15-volume The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China (2007), one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, as well as Chinese Jade: The Spiritual and Cultural Significance of Jade in China (2012).

China, c. 4000-3000 BC. Carved of compressed form with flattened base, the rounded body framed by a head accentuated with an incised mouth and four radiating feet carved in rough lines indicating the skins, together with a short, pointed tail, the reverse is drilled with a hole through both sides below the neck. The stone is of a celadon color with icy white striations and few minuscule dark specks.

Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States. Two labels inscribed with inventory numbers, ‘12874’ and ‘75328’.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and signs of weathering and erosion. The jade with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks.

Weight: 121.5 g
Dimensions: Length 7.5 cm

Literature comparison:
A closely related jade turtle was excavated from Tomb no. 1 at Hutougou burial site, Fuin, Liaoning Province, now in the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, see Gu Fang, The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 2, Beijing, 2007, p.119.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 November 2023, lot 830
Price: HKD 102,400 or approx. EUR 13,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pale green jade 'turtle' amulet, Neolithic Period, Hongshan Culture
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, and stone of similar color. Note the size (4.8 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2018, lot 3084
Estimate: 400,000 or approx. EUR 56,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A jade tortoise, late Hongshan culture, circa 3500-3000 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and the size (9 cm).