A SUPERB CELADON AND BLACK JADE ‘CHILONG AND PHOENIX’ OPENWORK PLAQUE, HAN DYNASTY
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. 61, no. 31.

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, 206 BC-220 AD. The flat plaque is carved to depict a dragon clambering on the top of a trapezoidal frame while peering over the edge, with sinuous body and long scrolling tail, surrounded by further hooks. A phoenix is carved outside the frame facing one edge. The openwork design is neatly incised with c-scrolls and a further animal above the rectangular pierced handle. The translucent stone of a celadon tone with a magnificent shading of opaque black along one edge.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Very good condition with little wear, minuscule nibbling here and there, and a minute chip to the outer edge. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks.

Weight: 135 g
Dimensions: Height 18 cm

The present jade very closely resembles one from the Chu Valley of Kings, excavated from Shizishan and now housed in the Xuzhou Museum. Characterized by its elegant contours, pierced detailing, and lyrical motifs, the piece exemplifies the refined aesthetic unique to the Chu kingdom during the Western Han dynasty. The royal mausoleums of Chu near Xuzhou—particularly at Shizishan, Beidongshan, and Tuolanshan—have yielded some of the most remarkable jade finds in Chinese archaeology, including over 2,000 jade artifacts and a gold-wired jade burial suit of unprecedented scale and craftsmanship. These jades, many believed to have been produced in local Chu workshops, display a visual language distinct from that of other Han vassal states: a fusion of lingering Warring States elegance with early imperial formality, often incorporating fluid dragons, phoenixes, and abstracted cloud motifs. Today, the Chu jades are widely regarded as among the finest in both quality and quantity of all jade artifacts recovered from the Han dynasty, underscoring the Chu kingdom’s importance as a regional center of jade artistry.

Literature comparison:
Compare a near identical celadon jade dragon ornament, dated to the Western Han dynasty, excavated from the tomb of King Chu at Shizishan, Xuzhou, in the Xuzhou Museum, included in the exhibition Flight of Dragons and Dance of Phoenixes: Jade Artifacts from the Tomb of the King of Chu in the Han Dynasty at Xuzhou, Beijing Art Museum and Xuzhou Museum, Beijing, 2016.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2017, lot 2773
Price: HKD 1,062,500 or approx. EUR 133,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An openwork jade ‘chilong and monkey’ scabbard chape, Western Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and manner of carving with similar chilong clambering on the top of a trapezoidal frame while peering over the edge. Note the size (7.5 cm) and monkey.