A 4-PART WHITE AND RUSSET JADE SWORD FITTING,... Lot n° 23

A 4-PART WHITE AND RUSSET JADE SWORD FITTING, WESTERN HAN Jade. China, Western Han, 2 nd – 1 st century BC Published: Filippo Salviati, 4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades, 2017, pp. 315-317, no. 318 (material erroneously described as agate). Scientific Analysis Report: A signed and stamped report from the Gemmological Laboratory Austria (GLA), no. 57382-2, dated 17 November 2022, confirms that the present lot is nephrite jade. A copy of this report accompanies this lot. The present lot is a complete set of jade sword fittings, comprising a pommel (shou) of circular form, a sword guard (ge), a scabbard chape (bi) of trapezoidal form and a scabbard slide (zhi). Each of the four pieces in the set is decorated with a pair of dragons. A taotie-type mask is also carved in low relief on the backs of the guard and the chape. The underside of the pommel is incised with small interconnected scrolls in relief around a stylized four-petal flower. The workmanship is of the highest level and the jade is mostly white with some russet nuances. Weapon fittings in jade developed in the Eastern Zhou period and reached their climax during the following Han dynasty, when entire sets made of several jades were used to embellish the swords of aristocrats. DIAMETER 6.4 cm (the pommel), WIDTH 6.6 cm (the sword guard), WIDTH 6.9 cm (the scabbard chape), LENGTH 10.5 cm (the scabbard slide), Provenance: Private Collection of Irene and Wolfgang Zacke (1942-2022).