A calcified jade 'bird' pendant, Neolithic period, Hongshan culture | 新石器時代紅山文化　玉鳥

Wu Tanghai, Jades of Hongshan Culture, Aurora Art Museum, Taipei, 2007, pl. 98.

This pendant is worked with the head of a bird set above a pupa, both common motifs in the Hongshan culture, though rarely combined in a single piece. While avian imagery appears frequently in Hongshan jades, birds are more frequently portrayed with wings outstretched. The suspension hole is drilled at the neck of the bird, a feature seen on a Hongshan culture jade ‘beast’ pendant illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jades], vol. 1: Yuanshi shehui [Primitive society], Hebei, 1991, pl. 17. See also another rare Hongshan culture jade ‘bird’ pendant’ in this sale, lot 925.



出版

吳棠海，《紅山玉器》，震旦藝術博物館，台北，2007年，圖版98

本玉飾上部雕作鳥首，下承一蛹，兩者皆為紅山文化常見之題材，然同現於一器之上則極為罕見。鳥類題材於紅山文化玉器中雖屢見不鮮，然多作展翅之姿。鳥頸處帶一穿孔，此特徵見於一件紅山文化玉「獸」形飾，載於《中國玉器全集》卷一：原始社會，河北，1991年，圖版17。另比一例，為本場拍賣呈獻之另一件罕見紅山文化玉「鳥」形飾，編號925。