A GREEN JADE ‘HORSE-HOOF’ ORNAMENT, HONGSHAN CULTUREChina, c. 3500-2500 BC. The tubular form flaring towards the sloping top in the form of a horse hoof (mati), cut across at an oblique angle forming an arched profile to the rim, the narrower end pierced with two holes. The translucent stone of a variegated green and light brown color with darker speckles and russet veining.Provenance: From the collection of Paolo Bertuzzi. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashionpany with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear, few minuscule nibbles to the edges, the upper and lower rim uneven, the stone with few natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks over time.Weight: 264.6 gDimensions: Height 12.9 cmLarge jade ornaments of this specific form were a product of the Hongshan culture, and examples have been recovered at the Niuheliang burial site in Liaoning province. While generally referred to as headpieces, Jenny F. So has recently suggested that they may have been worn on the forearm to protect the arm and wrist (Jenny F. So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 2019, page 74). She cites an example worn on the forearm of the occupant of Site III at Niuheliang, and another recovered from the Bronze Age burial site at Dadianzi, in present-day inner Mongolia.Auction resultparison:Type: RelatedAuction: Los Angeles, 21 June 2022, lot 30Price: USD 7,650 or approx.EUR 7,400 converted at the time of writingDescription: A yellowish-celadon jade hoof-shaped ornament, Neolithic period, Hongshan cultureExpert remark:pare the related plain form. Note the smaller size (8.6 cm) and yellowish-celadon color.紅山文化青玉馬蹄形配飾中國，公元前約 3500-2500 年。管狀物件向上傾斜，頂部張開，如馬蹄狀，斜角切割，邊緣的拱形，較窄的一端穿有兩個孔。半透明石料，綠色和淺棕色紋理，帶有較深的斑點和黃褐色斑。