A VERY RARE WHITE AND RUSSET JADE 'SCHOLAR' PENDANT, MING DYNASTY

Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

來源

史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

Skillfully rendered in the round depicting a scholar, identified by the rujin (Confucius hat), the present pendant stands as a highlight among the related known examples of this category. A small group of Ming jade figure-form pendants have been published, none of which, however, can match the superior carving quality of the present piece. Compare, for example, four white jade immortals, each worked in a much simpler fashion, as part of a large pendant set, from the Qing Court Collection, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (II), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 164; a pair of white jade figures, each depicted in a similar pose, mounted in gold as earrings, excavated from Daqiangmen, Wuxi, Jiangsu province, now in the Nanjing Museum, exhibited in Golden Jiangnan. Ancient Gold Ware of Jiangsu, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, 2008, cat. no. 140; and a jade Buddhist figure, set in the center of a gilt-silver hairpin, discovered in Dingling, Beijing, the mausoleum of the Wanli Emperor, now in the National Museum of China, Beijing, published in Zhongguo guojia bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu. Yuqi juan [Studies of the Collection of the National Museum of China. Jade], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 200.

本品珮飾，雕一儒者插手立勢，頭戴儒巾，身著長袍，為典型文人裝扮。此珮雕工精良，刻畫細膩，於同類作例當中堪屬上佳之作。目前雖有數例相類明代人形珮見經出版，但論及雕工之精美，尚未見能與本品比肩者。比較四件白玉仙人形珮飾，雕工尚簡，屬於一組掛珮，現藏於北京故宮博物院，載於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集•玉器卷（中）》，香港，1995年，圖版164；另比一對白玉人形珮，人物姿態相近，鑲金以作耳環，江蘇無錫大墻門出土，現存於南京博物院，曾展於《金色江南•江蘇古代金器》，南京博物院，南京，2008年，編號140；再比一例白玉佛像，鑲於一件銀鎏金髮簪，出土於北京明萬曆皇帝定陵，現存於中國國家博物館，載於《中國國家博物館館藏文物研究叢書•玉器卷》，上海，2007年，圖版200。