A SET OF SEVENTEEN JADE PENDANTS, EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

Published: Jean-Paul Desroches (ed.) et al, The Beginning of the World. Dragons, Phoenix and Other Chimera, Fondation Baur, Geneva, 2020, p. 24-25, no. 5.

Exhibited:
1. Fondation Baur, The Beginning of the World – According to the Chinese. Dragons, Phoenix and Other Chimera, Geneva, 11 November 2020-23 May 2021.
2. Musée Départemental des Arts Asiatiques, The Beginning of the World – According to the Chinese. Dragons, Phoenix and Other Chimera, Nice, Summer 2021.

China, 770-476 BC. Each pendant of flattened form and meticulously carved on both sides in low relief with a dense composition of C-scrolls, often interspersed with subtly detailed, stylized beast heads as well as neatly incised, hatched designs. The translucent stones of variegated tones of celadon and pale yellow with russet inclusions, brown shadings, as well as opaque patches of creamy-beige calcification.

Comprising four pairs of bi (disks), the larger pairs with beast heads; a pair of double-dragon huang (arched pendants); a pair of notched double-tiger huangs; a pair of single-dragon pendants; a pair of oblong pendants with confronting dragons; and a notched rectangular pendant with bovine masks. The pendants, except the bi disks, are pierced with small apertures for suspension.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Excellent condition with wear and natural imperfections. The edges with minuscule nibbling. Signs of prolonged burial and traces of weathering with associated small losses.

Weight: 293 g (total excl. box)
Dimensions: Diameter 3.7 cm (the smaller bi disks), Length 7 cm (the rectangular pendant) and 9.3 cm (the double-dragon huang)

With a fitted padded silk brocade storage box. (18)

Jade pendant sets discovered in Chinese tomb burials are remarkable examples of ancient ritual and decorative practice. These sets often included multiple components—bi disks, huang arc pendants, beads, and other ornaments—carefully arranged on the body or garments of the deceased. Strung together with silk cords (now decayed), they were designed not only as ornaments but also as protective talismans and symbols of status, rank, and cosmic harmony. The configuration of the pendants mirrored ritual cosmology, with round shapes symbolizing heaven and arc-shaped forms evoking the earth, reflecting beliefs in balance between the celestial and terrestrial realms. Their discovery in elite burials underscores jade’s enduring significance as a material associated with purity, immortality, and spiritual power in ancient China. For examples, see the pectoral found in the Western Han tomb of Zhao Mo, illustrated by Peter Y. K. Lam (ed.), Jades from the Tomb of the King of Nanyue, Guangzhou, 1991, pl. 52, and a set of pendants excavated from the Necropolis of State Guo, Sanmenxia, Henan Province, exhibited in the Jade Gallery of the Henan Provincial Museum.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2023, lot 3008
Price: HKD 444,500 or approx. EUR 50,500 (for six) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A group of six archaic jade ornaments, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related forms and manner of carving with similar C-scrolls, beast heads, and hatched designs. Note the size (9.4 cm) and slightly later dating.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2022, lot 2708
Price: HKD 2,772,000 or approx. EUR 320,000 (for ten) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A set of ten jade pendants, Western Han dynasty
Expert remark: The central bi shows closely related carved decoration with similar C-scroll and beast heads, and further pendants exhibit related forms and manners of carving. Note the size of the largest jade (13.5 cm).