A GRAY AND CELADON JADE ‘PRAYING MANTIS’ PENDANT, LATE SHANG DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

Published: Jean-Paul Desroches (ed.) et al, Two Americans in Paris. A Quest for Asian Art, Paris, 2016, p. 54, no. 104.

Exhibited: 
1. Pointe-à-Callière Museum, From the Lands of Asia. The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Montréal, 17th November 2016-19th March 2017.
2. Kimbell Art Museum, From the Lands of Asia. The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Fort Worth, Texas, 4th March-19th August 2018.

China, 13th-11th century BC. Finely carved in the form of a praying mantis shown in profile, the body richly incised in double-line grooves with scrolling wings above the large round eyes. The semi-translucent stone of a yellowish celadon tone with dark gray patches as well as brown and russet inclusions.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Very good condition with wear, signs of prolonged burial, traces of weathering, encrustations, an old smoothened chip, remnants of ancient pigment, the stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks over time.

Weight: 106 g
Dimensions: Height 12.2 cm

Expert’s note: Among excavated jades, mantis are not seen before the late Shang period. One of the earliest known examples, also carved with double-line grooves, published for example in Zhongguo yuqi quanji (Collection of Chinese Jade), Hebei meishu chubanshe 1993 vol. II: pl. 99, was excavated from the tomb of Fu Hao, located at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang capital, now within modern Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by archaeologist Zheng Zhenxiang, the tomb was identified as the final resting place of Queen and military general Fu Hao, who died around 1200 BC. Likely the Lady Hao mentioned in oracle bone inscriptions by King Wu Ding, Fu Hao was one of his many wives. The tomb's excavation revealed 755 jade objects, including not only contemporary Shang pieces but also jades from the Longshan, Liangzhu, Hongshan, and Shijiahe cultures. Remarkably, it is the only Shang royal tomb found intact, with its contents undisturbed, likely due to its remote location, far from other known burial sites.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related jade mantis, dated 1300-1050 BC, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S2012.9.315. Compare a related jade mandis, dated approx. 1300-1100 BC, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60J769. Compare a related jade mantis, dated Shang or Zhou dynasty, in the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1943.50.184, and illustrated by Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades From the Grenville L Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, 1975, no. 166.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 20 September 2021, lot 137
Price: USD 15,300 or approx. EUR 15,200 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An olive-green and calcified jade praying mantis pendant, Shang dynasty or later
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and manner of carving with similar double-line grooves. Note the size (7 cm).