SMALL AXE PENDANT. Jade. China, Shang (1600 - 1100 BC) to Western Zhou (up to 770 BC). LENGTH 5.45 CM
This delicate small jade pendant, a rare collectors item from a prominent collection, holds a very rare shade of orange that changes from light orange to a dark brownish tone and finally to a whitish one. As a result it resembles old ivory or wood. The hole is precisely drilled, the body quite thin, and the surface well-polished and smooth.
Ex collection of the famous paleontologist G.H. Ralph von Koenigswald, acquired around 1939 in Beijing.
Expertised by Univ. Prof. Dr. Filippo Salviati