Northeast China, Hongshan culture, Neolithic Period, ca. 3800 to 2700 BCE. A beautiful figural pendant, expertly carved from a piece of translucent quartz crystal of golden hues to represent a kneeling nude female, perhaps a mythical tutelary or fertility figure, with very large, pendulous breasts, and a tranquil visage comprised of incised elegantly angled eyes, nose and mouth, and a coiffure on the verso to her shoulders. She is perforated at the nape of her neck and both elbows for suspension and/or attachment. Tutelary spirits are community deities of creation and nature traditionally believed to serve as guides with divine power, symbols associated with villages populated by particular surnames and ancestry. Size: 1.365" W x 3" H (3.5 cm x 7.6 cm)

For many years, scholars believed that Chinese civilization began in the Yellow River valley, but now we know that there were actually earlier cultures both north and south of this region. The Hongshan culture, comprised of a group of Neolithic peoples who lived in the far northeast, in what is modern-day Liaoning province and Inner Mongolia, created a sophisticated society and erected elaborate ceremonial sites that oftentimes included valuable works like this rock crystal female fertility pendant.

Provenance: private Orange County, California, USA collection

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#122689

Choice. Gorgeous translucency and nice mineral deposits.