THREE TINY BEADS IN WHITE JADE WITH DELICATELY CARVED SCROLLS IN RELIEF

Jade, China. Eastern Zhou, 4th – 3rd century BC 三穀紋玉墜 - 東周時代, 公元前4世紀-前3世紀

These three small beads in white jade are decorated with a delicate pattern of spirals in relief, organized in five rows, and an incised line that delimits the border of each end. All three beads present extensive traces of alteration from the burial in the form of chalky white areas on most of the surfaces. Two beads have a cylindrical appearance, while the third one has a more barrel-like look.
Small beads like these were commonly used in the Eastern Zhou period as components of pendants: the jades were strung together with metal chains or silk cords that passed through the hole drilled at the centre of the beads.
For similar beads see F. Salviati, 4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna 2017, no.206 and Archaic and Antique Chinese Jades, auction catalogue, Galerie Zacke, September 29, 2017, lot no.26.

LENGTH 3/3/3 CM 長 3 / 3 / 3 厘米

From an Austrian collection

All jades in this catalogue have been professionally examined, authenticated and described by Prof. Filippo Salviati. Professor Salviati teaches Chinese and Korean art at Sapienza University in Rome, in the Italian Institute of Oriental Studies. He is a world expert on archaic Chinese jades, having released multiple publications and being cited by renowned auction houses such as Sotheby’s. The microscopic images made available here, show that the weathering of the jade has occurred over a long period of time. Furthermore in the magnification one can reconstruct the workings of the jade. The two aforementioned criteria are exactly what counts in the authentication of archaic jades – the difficult and elaborate workmanship by hand and the subsequent weathering of the jade over centuries. The microscopic enlargements show how the patterns were ground out in many small steps, sometimes over months, and that the weathering actually occurs above the carvings, meaning it occurred after the jade was completed.