China, Western Zhou dynasty, 1100-1000 BC

Carved as the silhouette of a stag with its head turned, the surface of the translucent stone is plain, polished, and of a variegated celadon and russet tone. Pierced to the neck allowing for suspension as a pendant.

Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and minimal smoothened nibbling.
Provenance: Swedish private collection, acquired in Stockholm in 2005.

Weight: 10 g
Dimensions: Height 5.5 cm

The stag is an animal which was occasionally represented in jade during the Western Zhou period, following contacts with the steppe nomads of the North from whom the imagery derived. However, compared to their nomadic prototypes, the Chinese jade stags have sturdier bodies and more exuberant horns. In Western Zhou graves, jade figurines of stags with magnificent horns have mostly been found in the tombs of women.

LITERATURE COMPARISON:
A similar example was unearthed in 1974 from a Western Zhou tomb at Rujiazhuang, Baoji, Shaanxi, see Rawson 2013, p.59 and note 87. A related example is in the British Museum, registration number 1945,1017.13. Another stag pendant in the shape of a deer is in 4000 Years of Chinese Archaistic Jades, by Filippo Salviati, page 150, number 173.