A PARTLY CALCIFIED CELADON JADE SQUARE ORNAMENT WARRING STATES PERIOD

with a central aperture, carved to both sides with abstract kuilong motifs, the stone of a celadon colour with extensive calcified russet areas to one side

This lustrous rectangular green jade ornament suffused with brown colour is half calcified and is marked with chicken-bone white calcification. Polished and smooth, it has projecting edges, and the hole in the centre has step-like traces left by two-facetted drilling. On both sides of this jade ornament are engraved dragon head and coiled serpent designs in low relief, all lines executed in intaglio as fine as hair. The shape of this type of jade ornaments originated from the plug of the Western Zhou era.  A ‘plug’ hung near the nape of the neck functioning like a chain buckle in necklaces or a multiple jade pendant group. The jade plugs from archeological excavations are of various forms, among which are the disc form, animal form, and geometrical figures, but each has a circular hole in the centre to hold a cord. For the same type of jade plug, see the excavations from the burial site at Shangguo, Wenxi, Shanxi Province; see Gu Fang, ed., Zhongguo chutu yuqi quanji [The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China], vol. 3, Beijing, 2005, p. 154.