A LARGE (47 CM) AND EXCEPTIONAL ‘CLOUDED’ JADE CEREMONIAL BLADE, ZHANG, 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. 49, no. 90.

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.

Expert’s note: The marbled ‘cloud’ patterns on this jade are entirely natural, formed over millennia of weathering and exposure to the elements. Such patterns, which cannot be created or imitated artificially, left the first excavators during the Ming and Qing dynasties in absolute awe. Most notably, the Qianlong Emperor dedicated several of his most important poems to jades like this, treasuring them in his private rooms within the Forbidden City.

China, c. 13^th-11^th century BC. Superbly carved as a thin rectangular blade with a bifurcated tip, the handle pierced with a central aperture flanked by pairs of notches and flanges to the edge. The mostly opaque stone of a beautiful ivory-white tone with veining and patches forming vivid cloud-like patterns in hues of ochre, gray, and deep mossy green, as well as faintly translucent areas.

Provenance: The Vallin Galleries, Wilton, Connecticut, USA, 19 October, 1975. The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France, acquired from the above. A copy of an invoice from Vallin Galleries, USA, dated 19 October 1975, accopanies this lot.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected ancient wear, traces of weathering and erosion, signs of prolonged burial including encrustations and numerous fatigue cracks across the handle, extensive calcification, few old smoothened losses and minuscule nibbles, the stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into small hairline cracks.

Weight: 392 g
Dimensions: Height 47 cm

Forked blades (zhang) first made their appearance during the Neolithic period, although their source of inspiration remains unknown as the form has no prototype in stone implements of the period. The function of this type of blade has been an area of discussion, and interpretations of it as a military implement have bene suggested in ancient texts such as Zhouli (Rites of Zhou), as well as Zheng Xuan's commentaries in the Eastern Han dynasty. Blades of this form are often of large size and are finely and thinly carved, suggesting a ceremonial function, which is consistent with archaeological excavation findings from sacrificial pits.

The present lot relates closely to a number of blades excavated at Jinsha, an archaeological site located in Qingyang, Chengdu, the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan. The site is one of the major archaeological discoveries in China during the 21st century. After the decline of Sanxingdui, Jinsha emerged as the capital of the Shu state in the Shang or Western Zhou dynasty. It disappeared between 500 BC and 200 BC with various theories as to the cause positing political revolution, earthquakes, or flooding. The site was accidentally discovered in 2001 after construction revealed a drain which contained artifacts made of bronze, jade, stone and ivory. In 2007, the Jinsha Museum was constructed to display the artifacts and features found. The objects discovered, besides the aforementioned jade blades, include the gold sunbird, a national symbol of China according to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related earlier mottled jade blade excavated at the Erlitou site in Yanshi in 1974 and now in the Luoyang Museum, Henan.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams London, 9 November 2017, lot 1
Price: GBP 81,250 or approx. EUR 140,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and large mottled beige jade blade, yazhang, Neolithic period
Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of carving, and mottled stone. Note the size (41.6 cm) and earlier dating.