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Complete
Anthropomorphic
Pendant
/ Ornament
Warring
States period - circa 3rd Century BC
possibly
earlier
dimensions:
approx 8.5" long x 4" wide x 1/4" thick
Hip
and shoulder segments approx 3 1/4 inches across
Very
good condition.
From
a California Private Collection
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Fabulous example of an elaborate
Chinese antique pendant / ornament in nine interrelated segments. Creamy Yellow and
white jade with traces of very pale green. Distinct humanoid design. Hip
and shoulder arched segments incorporate double dragon head designs. Lower legs
are made of blade or fang-like segments with dragon heads at the
knees.
Drilled through in many places,
most likely for attachment to clothing. Stone has a very nice translucence with a
partially calcified cloud-like matrix. Traces of golden yellow patination
overall. Finely carved with mushroom or cloud-like spiral
forms. Head is made up of a dimpled oblong perforated disk. Complete
examples like this one are particularly rare. 
Perforated disks have been
a recurring form in Chinese art for more than 4000 years, and are typically
though to represent the heavens, perhaps the totality of heaven and earth.
As late as the Han dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220), jade disks performed a ritual
function in aristocratic burials, where they were placed above the head, below
the feet, and on the chest of the deceased, and may have been meant to help
guide the deceased into heaven.
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