A PAIR OF CYLINDRICAL 'TAOTIE MASK' JADE BEADS, SHANG DYNASTY 商代一對饕餮紋玉珠

Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價

China, 1600-1046 BC. Of tapering form, both are carved with a finely detailed taotie mask. Each has a small piercing drilled through the front, joining the main vertical tunnel, and the is back flattened. The opaque stone is covered extensively with milk-white calcification and some faint russet inclusions. (2)

Provenance: Collection of Harry Geoffrey Beasley and thence by descent to his widow Irene Beasley. Collection of Alfred William Cowperthwaite, acquired from the above c. 1939 and thence by descent in the same family. Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) was a British anthropologist and museum curator who developed an important ethnographic collection during the early 20th century that is now held in various British museums. With his wife Irene, Beasley set up the Cranmore Ethnographical Museum which eventually held more than 6,000 objects of ethnographical interest. The Beasleys collected objects from across Europe, buying from auction houses and local museums to expand the collection, which contained material from the Pacific, Asia, Africa, and Northwestern America. Beasley wrote numerous articles for anthropological journals and was considered an expert in his field. He died in 1939 and his collection was stored with the British Museum collections during the war, which was fortunate, as the Cranmore Museum was destroyed by bombing. After the war, substantial portions of the collection were passed to the British Museum, the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the University of Cambridge, the Pitt Rivers Museum, and the Merseyside County Museum. Other pieces, such as the present lot, were sold by his widow and, after her death in 1974, by their daughters. Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964) was a contributor to the Cranmore Museum and became good friends with Harry Beasley. Shortly after Harry Beasley's death, he acquired a number of objects from Irene Beasley, including the present lot.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, with expected old wear and minuscule, mostly smoothened nicks. The stone with natural inclusions and fissures which have developed into small hairline cracks over time.

Weight: 2.7 g and 2.6 g
Dimensions: Length 1.4 cm and 1.4 cm

Literature comparison:
Compare a related tubular bead with taotie, 4 cm high, dated to the Shang dynasty, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S2012.9.428.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby's London, 8 December 2022, lot 154
Price: GBP 88,200 or approx. EUR 106,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A mottled, pale-gray jade bead, Shang/Western Zhou dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the similar form with a flattened reverse. Note the larger size (2.5 cm).




商代一對饕餮紋玉珠
中國，西元前1600-1046年。玉珠呈錐形，雕刻饕餮面具。每個都在前面鑽有一個小穿孔，背面是平。不透明玉石大面積覆蓋著乳白色的鈣化物和黃褐色內沁。 (2)

來源：Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939)收藏，他逝世後由其遺孀Irene Beasley保存；Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964)，約於1939年購於上述收藏，之後在同一家族保存至今。Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) 是一位英國人類學家和博物館館長，他在二十世紀初建立了一個重要的民族志收藏，現在收藏在英國的各個博物館中。Beasley和他的妻子Irene一起建立了Cranmore民族志博物館，該博物館最終收藏了 6,000 多件民族志方面的物品。Beasley 收集了來自歐洲各地的物品，從拍賣行和當地博物館購買以擴大收藏範圍，其中包含來自太平洋、亞洲、非洲和美國西北部的資料。Beasley為人類學期刊撰寫了大量文章，被公認爲是該領域的專家。他於 1939 年去世，他的藏品幸虧在戰爭期間被存放在大英博物館裏，而Cranmore博物館被轟炸摧毀。戰後，大部分藏品被轉移到大英博物館、愛丁堡皇家博物館、劍橋大學考古與人類學博物館、Pitt Rivers博物館和Merseyside County博物館。其他收藏，例如現在的拍品，由他的遺孀出售，在她 1974 年去世後，由他們的女兒出售。Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964) 曾是Cranmore 民族志博物館重要支持人，也曾是 Harry Beasley的好友。在Harry Beasley去世不久，他從Irene Beasley 處購買了一些收藏，包括此件拍品。
品相：狀況極好，有磨損和光滑的小刻痕。玉石具有天然內沁裂縫，隨著時間的推移，這些裂縫會發展成細小的裂縫。

重量：分別為2.7與 2.6克
尺寸：各長 1.4 厘米

文獻比較:
比較一件相近的商代饕餮紋玉珠，高4 厘米，收藏於史密森學會國立亞洲藝術博物館，館藏編號S2012.9.428。

拍賣結果比較:
形制：相近
拍賣：倫敦蘇富比，2022年12月8日，lot 154
價格：GBP 88,200（相當於今日EUR 106,000）
描述：商/西周玉珠
專家評論：比較相似的形式但背面扁平。請注意尺寸較大 (2.5 厘米)。