A JADE ‘DRAGON’ PENDANT, HUANG, WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
China, 10th-8th century BC. Arc-shaped pendant 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 cloudy inclusions.


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:
Fair condition, commensurate with age. Strong wear, with some of the incision work considerably worn off due to extensive handling of the piece over a long period of time. Minor nibbling to edges.

Weight: 14.3 g
Dimensions: Length 6.5 cm


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2018, lot 4
Price: HKD 225,000 or approx.
EUR 29,500,
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaistic yellowish-celadon jade pendant, huang, Han dynasty or earlier
Expert remark: The difference between estimate (HKD 20,000-30,000) and hammer price strongly indicates that bidders believed that this huang is not archaistic and likely to be of an earlier date than the Han dynasty. Note the size (9.4 cm).


Auction result comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2023, lot 3807
Price: HKD 177,800 or approx.
EUR 21,000,
converted at the time of writing
Description: A pale greyish-celadon jade 'dragon' pendant, huang, mid-late Western Zhou dynasty
Expert remark: Note the size (8.5 cm).




西周龍紋玉璜

中國，公元前十至八世紀。弧形佩飾兩側各刻有龍紋，兩端各有一個龍頭。每端鑽一個用於懸掛的孔。白色的半透明玉料，帶有絮狀物。


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，現在收藏在英國的各個博物館中。Beasley和他的妻子Irene一起建立了Cranmore民族志博物館，該博物館最終收藏了 6,000 多件民族志方面的物品。Beasley 收集了來自歐洲各地的物品，從拍賣行和當地博物館購買以擴大收藏範圍，其中包含來自太平洋、亞洲、非洲和美國西北部的資料。Beasley為人類學期刊撰寫了大量文章，被公認爲是該領域的專家。他於 1939 年去世，他的藏品幸虧在戰爭期間被存放在大英博物館裏，而Cranmore博物館被轟炸摧毀。戰後，大部分藏品被轉移到大英博物館、愛丁堡皇家博物館、劍橋大學考古與人類學博物館、Pitt Rivers博物館和Merseyside County博物館。其他收藏，例如現在的拍品，由他的遺孀出售，在她 1974 年去世後，由他們的女兒出售。Alfred William Cowperthwaite (1890-1964) 曾是Cranmore 民族志博物館重要支持人，也曾是 Harry Beasley的好友。在Harry Beasley去世不久，他從Irene Beasley 處購買了一些收藏，包括此件拍品。

品相：
狀況一般，磨損嚴重，邊緣輕微磕損。

重量：14.3 克
尺寸：長6.5 厘米


拍賣結果比較：

形制：相近
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2018年11月28日，lot 4
價格：HKD 225,000（相當於今日
EUR 29,500
）
描述：漢或更早青白玉龍紋璜
專家評論：此玉璜估價（20,000-30,000港幣）與落槌價差非常大，由此可知競標者認為這件璜並非仿古，其年代可能早於漢代。請注意尺寸(9.4厘米)。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：相近
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2023年4月8日，lot 3807
價格：HKD 177,800（相當於今日
EUR 21,000
）
描述：西周中晚期淺灰青玉雙龍首紋璜
專家評論：請注意尺寸(8.5厘米)。