An extremely rare pale green jade carving of a rhinoceros, Early Western Zhou dynasty

拍品描述

Chinese Jades from the Ralph Wanger Collection Length 2¾in., 7.1 cm Remarkable for its sculptural refinement and strikingly naturalistic portrayal of a rhinoceros, the present lot reflects the carver's close observation of the animal that was once native to ancient China. The historical presence of the rhinoceros is well attested in both early texts and archaeological discoveries. Rhinoceros bones dating to the Shang dynasty were unearthed at Anyang, Henan province, in 1949, while oracle bone inscriptions record the deliberate burning of forests to flush out rhinoceroses for the hunt. Such evidence suggests that the capture and ritual sacrifice of these formidable animals constituted important state-sponsored events during the Bronze Age. Rhinoceros hide was also highly prized for the manufacture of armor during the Spring and Autumn period, valued for its exceptional durability. Intensive hunting, however, combined with the species' naturally low reproductive rate, led to a rapid decline in the rhinoceros population, and by the late Western Han dynasty the animal had largely disappeared from China. Jade carvings of rhinoceros from the Western Zhou dynasty are extremely rare and the present lot appears to be one of only two recorded examples known. See a closely related jade rhinoceros, carved in a more stylized manner with circular eyes and more angular contours, included in the Chinese Jade Animals exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. no. 29. Attributed to the late Shang / early Western Zhou period, it is now preserved in the British Museum, London (accession no. 1937,0416.49) (Fig. 1). For a related example, carved in a similar, but less elaborate style, of a standing ox, see one unearthed from the tomb of Yu Bo in Rujia zhuang, Shaanxi province, now housed in the Baoji Bronzeware Museum, Baoji, and illustrated in Yang Boda, Zhongguo yuqi quanji [The complete collection of jades unearthed in China], vol. 1 Shijiazhuang, 2005, pl. 229.

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