† A JADE FIGURE OF A SEATED BEAR, LATE SHANG DYNASTY

拍品描述

† A JADE FIGURE OF A SEATED BEAR, LATE SHANG DYNASTY Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating 1600-1100 BCE. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A copy of Dr. Gu's signed expertise, dated 19 January 2023, accompanies this lot. Dr. Gu Fang (born 1962) is an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese art and a leading authority on jades. He graduated from the Department of Archaeology at the prestigious Beijing University in 1986 and later studied at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), where he now serves as a Senior Fellow specializing in archaeological excavations and Chinese jade research. A former visiting scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he has authored several books on Chinese jades, including the 15-volume The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China (2007), one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, as well as Chinese Jade: The Spiritual and Cultural Significance of Jade in China (2012). China, 13th-11th century BC. Carved seated upright with its arms resting on its bent knees, the bear’s face rendered frontally with round eyes and pricked ears. The body is decorated with scrolling motifs and pierced with two holes at the back of the neck. The opaque stone is of a pale-yellow tinted white color with russet shadings and areas of calcification. Dimensions: Height 4 cm Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 18 November 2024, lot 9423 Price: HKD 144,000 or approx. EUR 16,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose and subject. Note the smaller size (2.7 cm). Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s London, 4 November 2020, lot 143 Price: GBP 50,400 or approx. EUR 80,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related pose and subject. Note the smaller size (3 cm). 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU. 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU.

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