An archaic celadon jade 'bird' handle, Mid-Western Zhou dynasty | 西周中期 青白玉鳥紋柄形飾

Jade tablet or handle such as the present lot is likely to have served as lingpai or ancestral insignia during the early Shang to Western Zhou periods. Similar examples have also been found in noble burials of the Western Zhou period, for example see a closely related celadon jade 'bird' ornament with similar decorations in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Yang Boda, Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jades], Hebei, 2005, no.242. See also a drawing of a jade tablet in situ with elaborated casing embellished with jade and turquoise, suggesting they are only used by members of the royal family, see Zhangjiapo xizhou yuqi [Western Zhou jades from the Zhangjiapo cemetery], Beijing, 2007, p. 80, fig. 1-21.

此類片狀的玉飾自商早期至西周出現，或為祭祖的靈牌使用。商周時期的貴族墓葬中曾發現類似的例子。參看北京故宮博物院藏一例西周中期龍鳳紋玉飾，雖無打孔及出戢，但紋飾與本品類似，見楊伯達，《中國玉器全集》，河北，2005 年，編號 242。另見陝西張家坡西周墓葬出土的一件類似的玉飾，嵌有綠松石，可判斷為西周王室成員所用，見《張家坡西周玉器》，北京，2007 年，頁 80，圖 1-21。