† A RARE JADE ‘CROUCHING BEAR’ PENDANT, LATE SHANG DYNASTY

拍品描述

† A RARE JADE ‘CROUCHING BEAR’ PENDANT, 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 to 1600-1100 BCE. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A copy of Dr. Gu's signed expertise, dated 17July 2025, 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. Finely carved as a flattened crouching bear shown in profile, with a prominent snout, rounded ear, bent foreleg, and compact body, the features and limbs delineated by deeply incised grooves and scrolling motifs. The translucent stone is of a pale celadon tone with brown alteration and patches of opaque calcification. Pierced with a small hole below the ear for suspension. Dimensions: Height 7 cm Small animal-shaped carvings form one of the main categories of the Shang and early Western Zhou dynasty jades. A higher level of carving and artistic skills were developed during the late Shang period such as relief carving and double-line incision, as demonstrated by the present lot. Plaques of this type are among the Shang dynasty jade artifacts discovered in the Tomb of Fu Hao, located at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang capital, now within modern Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by archaeologist Zheng Zhenxiang, the tomb was identified as the final resting place of Queen and military general Fu Hao, who died around 1200 BC. Likely the Lady Hao mentioned in oracle bone inscriptions by King Wu Ding, Fu Hao was one of his many wives. The tomb's excavation revealed 755 jade objects, including not only contemporary Shang pieces but also jades from the Longshan, Liangzhu, Hongshan, and Shijiahe cultures. Remarkably, it is the only Shang royal tomb found intact, with its contents undisturbed, likely due to its remote location, far from other known burial sites. The bear has been a popular totemic emblem in China since ancient times. China's foundation myths hold that the legendary Yellow Emperor, or Huang Di, early on lived with his tribe in the northwest, presumably in modern Shanxi Province, but then later migrated to Zhuolu, in present-day Hebei Province, where he became a farmer and tamed six different types of ferocious beasts, including the bear, or xiong, with which the Yellow Emperor ever since has been linked. According to legend, Gun — said to have been the great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor and the father of Yu the Great, or Da Yu — stole a special soil with which he planned to build dikes in an attempt to control the Yellow River's constantly recurring and very devastating floods. He failed in his mission, however, and, as punishment for his theft, was killed by Zhurong, the God of Fire. Gun's corpse turned into a yellow bear, or huangxiong, and jumped into a pool. A while later, a golden bear, alternatively said to be a golden dragon, emerged from the corpse's stomach and ascended into heaven, where the Yellow Emperor instructed it to complete his father's work in taming the Yellow River's waters. That bear turned out to be Da Yu, who — according to popular belief — heroically controlled the floods and became the mythological forefather of China's Xia dynasty. Thus, the bear has been prominently associated with legendary rulers and Chinese national foundation myths since the earliest times. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related jade bear unearthed from the tomb of Fu Hao and now in the National Museum of China. Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Zacke, The collection Of Sam and Myrna Myers part 1, 11 September 2025, lot 73 Price: EUR 4,500 EUR Expert remark: Compare the related subject, style, stone, manner of carving, and size (4.3 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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