A JADE 'RABBIT' PENDANT, LATE SHANG TO EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY 商末至西周玉兔佩飾

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

China, 11th-10th century BC. The thick flattened plaque finely carved as a rabbit depicted crouching with its feet tucked underneath, slightly protruding rounded eyes beneath curved ears, and a short tail. The translucent stone with a good polish and of a white tone with russet-tinged creamy patches of calcification and dark specks. Small hole above the front paws for suspension.

Provenance: Collection of Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) and thence by descent to his widow Irene Beasley. Collection of Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964), 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: Good condition, commensurate with age. Significant old wear as expected. Small chips, some of which have smoothened over time. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks over time.

Weight: 10.5 g
Dimensions: Length 4.9 cm

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related jade rabbit, dated Shang to Western Zhou dynasty, 1100-800 BC, 4.5 cm long, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1962.427. Compare a closely related jade pendant of a rabbit, late Shang dynasty to Western Zhou dynasty, 3.5 cm, in the Smithsonian Museum, accession number S2012.9.852. Compare two closely related rabbit-form pendants, dated to the late Shang dynasty, excavated from tomb no. 2 at Jingjiecun, Lingshi, Shanxi Province, in the Shangxi Provincial Institute of Archeology, and illustrated in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 3, Beijing, 2005, p. 62-63.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby's New York, 22 March 2022, lot 36
Price: USD 27,720 or approx. EUR 27,500 converted at the time of writing
Description: A small, pale green jade hare-form pendant, Early Western Zhou dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related flat form, crouching pose, and simplistic carving style. Note the smaller size (2.5 cm) and different color of the jade.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3 December 2021, lot 840
Price: HKD 94,500 or approx. EUR 11,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaic jade 'hare' plaque, Shang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, pose, and manner of carving. Note the size (5.9 cm) and different color of the jade.




商末至西周玉兔佩飾
中國，公元前十一至十世紀。玉兔厚而扁平，成臥兔狀，雙腳藏於身下，彎曲的耳朵下略微突出的圓眼和一條短尾巴。玉料半透明，經過良好的拋光處理，呈白色，帶有黃褐色的鈣化斑塊和黑色斑點。前爪上方的小孔用於懸掛。

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：品相良好，有磨損，小磕損，其中一些隨著時間的推移變得平滑。玉料具有天然裂隙，隨著時間的推移，其中一些可能已經發展成細小的裂紋。

重量：10.5 克
尺寸：長 4.9 厘米

文獻比較：
比較一件非常相近的商至西周約公元前1100s-800年玉兔，長4.5 厘米，收藏於克里夫蘭藝術博物館，收藏編號1962.427。比較一件非常相近的商末至西周玉兔，3.5厘米 ，收藏於史密森學會，收藏編號S2012.9.852。比較兩件非常相近的商末兔形玉佩，出土於山西靈石旌介村第二號墓室，收藏於山西省考古研究院，見《中國出土玉器全集》，卷三，北京，2005年，頁62-63。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：相近
拍賣：紐約蘇富比，2022年3月22日，lot 36
價格：USD 27,720（相當於今日EUR 27,500）
描述：西周初玉兔形飾
專家評論：比較相近扁平的外形，呈現蹲姿，簡約的雕刻風格。請注意尺寸較小(2.5厘米) 和不同的玉石顏色。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：相近
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2021年12月3日，lot 840
價格：HKD 94,500（相當於今日EUR 11,500）
描述：商代玉兔
專家評論：比較相近的外形、姿勢和雕刻風格。請注意尺寸(5.9厘米) 和不同的玉石顏色。