A rare archaistic pale green and russet jade 'double-dragon' disc, bi

Ming Dynasty

Footnotes

明 玉雕夔龍紋環

Provenance:
Christie's Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3933

來源：
香港佳士得，2011年6月1日，拍品編號3933

The present jade disc with the design of a coiled dragon biting its own tail is based on Shang dynasty prototypes; see an example from the Shang period in the British Museum, London, illustrated by J.Rawson, Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.208, pl.12:1.

During the Ming dynasty, appreciating and collecting antiques was very much in vogue, as depicted in a painting by Du Jin (active circa 1465-1509), titled Wangu tu 'Enjoying Antiquities', in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and demonstrated in a woodblock print of a related double-coiled dragon-shaped inkcake, by Fang Yulu in the 1596 edition of Fang shi mo pu, illustrated by Huei-chung Tsao, Jade: from Emperors to Art Deco, Paris, 2016, pp.114-115, fig.1 and no.92.

For related examples of jade discs in the form of a coiled dragon, dated to the Ming dynasty, see Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 6 Ming Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, nos.26 and 298; and see also a disc in the form of an archaistic double-dragon, 15th/16th century, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated by Huei-chung Tsao, ibid., p.116, no.93.

此龍形環仿效商代龍形玉璧而製，見大英博物館藏一件商代龍形玉璧，著錄於J.Rawson,《Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁208，圖12:1。

明代晚期文人士大夫熱衷收藏，台北國立故宮博物院收藏的明人杜堇（活躍於1465至1509）作「玩古圖」即是對當時「博古」風尚的描繪。巴黎吉美博物館藏一冊明人方于魯撰《方氏墨譜》中，亦有同類的仿古龍紋形墨，見Huei-chung Tsao，《Jade: from Emperors to Art Deco》，巴黎，2016年，頁114-115，圖1及92。

明代龍形玉環，見北京故宮博物院藏一例，《故宮博物院藏品大系：玉器編6明代》，北京，2011年，頁51，圖26。另見台北國立故宮博物院藏一件明代雙龍玉璧，著錄於Tsao Huei-chung，《Jade: From Emperors to Art Deco》，巴黎，2016年，頁116，編號93。