Jade. Eastern Zhou, late Spring and. Autumn period, 6th – 5th c. BC
é¾ç´‹çŽ‰ç’§ – æ±å‘¨, 春秋晚期, 公元å‰6世紀-å‰5世紀
直徑 5,5 厘米; 孔徑 1,7 厘米
This small ring is decorated on both sides with the same pattern, consisting of five stylized dragon heads in profile orientated in an anti-clockwise direction. The essential features of the dragons are rendered through bold scrolls, used to indicate the snout, mouth and horns of the animals. The snout is also provided with an extension filled with etched, criss-crossing lines. The dragon heads seem to be emerging from waves or clouds and the overall composition is permeated by a strong sense of movement.
Due to heavy alterations, the jade has almost completely lost its original light green colour, which can only be seen in a small area of the ring, while the rest of the jade has turned yellowish-white and opaque. On some points of the ring there are also thick, dark encrustations and traces of red pigment: this was scattered over the burial goods before sealing the tombs, according to funerary practices attested since the early Bronze period.A disc with a somewhat similar decoration is published in Alfred Salmony, Archaic Chinese Jades from the Edward and Louise B. Sonnenschein Collection, Chicago 1952 pl. 74, no.3.
This jade is published in Filippo Salviati, Mysterious Jades of Ancient China, Edition
Zacke 2014.
DIAMETER CA. 5,5 x 5 CM, INNER HOLE 17 MM
From an Austrian private collection