J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
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73.
AN INCISED GREEN JADE PLAQUE
Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – A.D. 220)
of pentagonal outline, polished flat on one side and incised in fine linear style with a mysterious scene of two figures gazing up and gesturing toward a dish balanced on a thin pole, with a wine jar on the ground between them and a large cat-like beast striding at one side, all amidst swirling and billowing striated clouds and enclosed by a line border following the outline of the plaque, the reverse flattened but undecorated and left rough, indicating the plaque was probably used as an inlay, the dark green jade showing some cloudy degradation at the edges.
Length 4 1⁄4 inches (10.6 cm)
The magical scene of immortals and a fantastic beast on this jade plaque corresponds to the description of the high mountain realm of the immortals in the Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), a compilation of mythical history and geography which had great cosmological and philosophical influence during the Han dynasty.
This style of figure scene with magical beasts and stylized swirling clouds is seen on Han dynasty lacquers. Compare, for example, the finely incised immortals and fantastic beasts on the lacquer lian form container excavated from tomb no. 3 at Mawangdui, a royal Western Han burial site in Changsha, Hunan province, illustrated in Changsha Mawangdui er, san hao Han mu (Tombs 2 and 3 of the Han Dynasty at Mawangdui, Changsha), Report on Excavation, Volume I, Beijing, 2004, col. pl. 33, pl. 75, with description on p. 140 and line drawings on p. 146.
Compare also the finely incised tigers on an ivory fitting excavated from the Western Han tomb of Prince Liu Sheng (d. 113 B.C.) at Mancheng, Baoding, Hebei province, illustrated in Mancheng Han mu fajue baogao (Excavation of the Han Tombs at Man-ch’eng), Beijing, 1980, pl. 153 in Vol. II, with description in Vol. I on p. 214, and a line drawing on p. 215.
漢 刻紋玉牌 長 10.6 厘米
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73.
AN INCISED GREEN JADE PLAQUE
Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – A.D. 220)
Length 4 1⁄4 inches (10.6 cm)