Bonhams 1793 : A large jade 'bi' disc Eastern Zhou dynasty

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24 Nov 2012 14:00 CST Hong Kong
Timeless and Translucent: The Harold E. Stack Collection of Chinese Jades
Back to auction 20826

A large jade 'bi' disc

Eastern Zhou dynasty
The massive boulder skilfully worked into a disc of flattened section, finely worked in high relief with curled knobs framed within straight borders at the inner and outer edges, the stone of a mottled pale olive green tone with dark bluish-black and light brown inclusions.
24.2cm diam.

Sold for HK$ 300,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

Provenance 來源:
Spink & Son Ltd., London, 5 February 1991

Illustrated 出版:
Roger Keverne (ed.), Jade, London, 1991, p.347, fig.9

Archaic jade bi discs were revered in the Qianlong period, mounted in elaborate stands and copied in the Imperial workshops. For another example of an Eastern Zhou dynasty bi disc, see an example from the Oppenheim Bequest in the British Museum (1947.7-12.517), exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, 2005-6. and illustrated by Jessica Rawson, China. The Three Emperors, London, 2005, p.287, pl.201, alongside a Qianlong version from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated ibid, pl.200.

東周穀紋玉璧

玉質青色，沁褐斑，半透明，扁圓體，正圓形，內外緣均有陰刻輪廓線，兩面碾琢減地穀紋。器形規整，紋飾密集平均。

古代製玉時，是以兩人來回拉皮條子，不斷加水蘸砂，利用皮子帶動砂粒，慢慢將玉割開的。由於二人之力度往往不均，在拉動時容易有晃動，因此截割面多為不平。本玉璧雖飾滿穀紋，但從側面看可清楚見到高低不平。穀紋是流行於整個春秋戰國時期的玉器紋飾，是以剔地淺浮雕弧形圓點而成的，工藝複雜。

玉璧是中國歷史上最早出現，並使用最久的禮器，用作祭祀、盟誓及陪葬。乾隆皇帝好古玉，常命宮廷造辦處為宮中玉璧配木座，甚至讓「玉作」大量製作仿古玉。參看大英博物館藏一件東周玉璧，編號1947.7-12.517，曾於2005-2006年在皇家藝術學院展出，見Jessica Rawson著，《China. The Three Emperors》，倫敦，2005年，頁287，圖版201，書中同時還著錄一件乾隆時期所作仿古玉璧，圖版200。