A JADE ‘MASK’ SCABBARD CHAPE, WARRING STATES PERIOD TO HAN DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

Published: Myrna Myers (ed.) & Filippo Salviati (auth.), Radiant Stones. Archaic Chinese Jades, Paris, 2000, no. 135.

China, 4th century BC-1st century AD. Of lenticular section, finely carved to both sides with slightly raised angular scroll designs enclosed by line borders embellished with subtle incision work, the larger flat end neatly incised with an S-scroll, the other end pierced with a central hole for attachment to the bottom of the scabbard. The semi-translucent stone with small areas of pale green under the extensive opaque ivory-colored alteration as well as dark greenish-gray specks.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Very good condition with wear, minor signs of burial and traces of weathering, a small chip to one corner, the calcified stone with natural veins and fissures, some of which have developed into small hairline cracks.

Weight: 41 g
Dimensions: Length 5.2 cm

Positioned at the tip of the scabbard as decoration, scabbard chapes first appeared during the Western Zhou period and rose to prominence in the Eastern Zhou dynasty. By the Warring States period and into the Han dynasty, these decorative fittings had evolved into powerful symbols of elite status.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related jade scabbard chape dated to the Western Han dynasty in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 1950.729. Compare a closely related jade scabbard chape dated to the Warring States period in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, accession number EA1956.1589. Compare a closely related jade scabbard chape dated to the Warring States period in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S2012.9.894.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2014, lot 2002
Price: USD 6,875 or approx. EUR 8,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A greyish-green jade scabbard chape, late Eastern Zhou/Han dynasty, 4th century BC-1st century AD
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, motifs, stone, and size (5.5 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 17 March 2007, lot 920
Price: USD 12,500 or approx. EUR 17,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pale greyish-green jade scabbard chape, Warring states period-early Western Han dynasty, 3rd-2nd century BC
Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of carving, and color of the stone. Note the size (5.6 cm)

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 5 December 2023, lot 740
Price: HKD 165,100 or approx. EUR 19,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pale celadon jade 'mask' scabbard chape, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period - Western Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of carving. Note the size (6.3 cm)