Beschreibung:

Lot details Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價 China, 11th-8th century BC. Arc-shaped pendant neatly incised to either side with a stylized motif representing the dragon’s body and legs, terminating at each end with an abstract dragon head. A hole for suspension is drilled at each end. The translucent stone is of a white color with pale brown shadings and creamy patches of opaque calcification. Provenance: Collection of Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) and thence by descent to his widow Irene Beasley. Collection of Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964), acquired from the above c. 1939 and thence by descent in the same family. Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) was a British anthropologist and museum curator who developed an important ethnographic collection during the early 20th century that is now held in various British museums. With his wife Irene, Beasley set up the Cranmore Ethnographical Museum which eventually held more than 6,000 objects of ethnographical interest. The Beasleys collected objects from across Europe, buying from auction houses and local museums to expand the collection, which contained material from the Pacific, Asia, Africa, and Northwestern America. Beasley wrote numerous articles for anthropological journals and was considered an expert in his field. He died in 1939 and his collection was stored with the British Museum collections during the war, which was fortunate, as the Cranmore Museum was destroyed by bombing. After the war, substantial portions of the collection were passed to the British Museum, the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the University of Cambridge, the Pitt Rivers Museum, and the Merseyside County Museum. Other pieces, such as the present lot, were sold by his widow and, after her death in 1974, by their daughters. Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964) was a contributor to the Cranmore Museum and became good friends with Harry Beasley. Shortly after Harry Beasley’s death, he acquired a number of objects from Irene Beasley, including the present lot. Condition: Very good condition with extensive old wear as expected, tiny nibbles, minor weathering. Weight: 9.6 g Dimensions: Length 6.5 cm Please click here to read the full description Literature comparison: Compare a related jade huang with slightly different decoration and of similarly small size, dated Western Zhou dynasty, 9th-8th century BC, 5.8 cm long, in the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1943.50.623, illustrated in Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, 'Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum', Harvard University, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 1975, cat. no. 328, p. 220. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2017, lot 2730 Price: HKD 437,500 or approx. EUR 58,000, converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A pair of celadon jade ‘dragon’ huang, early to mid-Western Zhou dynasty, circa mid-11th to mid-9th century BC Expert remark: Compare the related arc form and stylized dragon decoration (albeit in thread relief). Note that the lot comprises two pendants and note the size (9.5 cm). Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2018, lot 2741 Price: HKD 437,500 or approx. EUR 57,000, converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A celadon jade ‘dragon’ pendant, huang, mid-Western Zhou dynasty, circa mid-10th to mid-9th century BC Expert remark: Compare the related arc form and stylized dragon decoration (albeit in thread relief). Note the size (11.3 cm). 点此阅读中文翻译 (Chinese Translation) 西周龍紋玉璜 中國，公元前十一至八世紀。弧形吊墜兩側整齊地雕刻著龍紋，兩端各有一個抽象的龍頭。每端鑽一個用於懸掛的孔。白色半透明玉料，帶有淺棕色紋理和白色不透明鈣化區域。 來源：Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939)收藏，他逝世後由其遺孀Irene Beasley保存；Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964)，約於1939年購於上述收藏，之後在同一家族保存至今。Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939) 是一位英國人類學家和博物館館長，他在二十世紀初建立了一個重要的民族志收藏，