A pale celadon jade 'mask' scabbard chape, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period - Western Han dynasty | 東周戰國至西漢 青白玉獸面紋劍珌

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1994-2002.

1994至2002年購於香港

Placed at the end of the scabbard as decoration, scabbard chapes were produced in the Western Zhou dynasty and became popular in the Eastern Zhou dynasty. During the Warring States period and the Han dynasty, scabbard chapes had further become the symbol of the elite class. Compare a Western Han-dynasty scabbard chape of similar form in the Shangqiu Museum, illustrated in Yang Boda ed., Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jades], Shijiazhuang, 2005, vol. 4, pl. 197. See also a slightly shorter Eastern Zhou-dynasty example with related decorative style in the British Museum, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 298, pl. 21:8. Another jade scabbard chape dated to the Eastern Zhou - Western Han dynasty was sold at Christie’s New York, 19th March 2008, lot 480, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no. 2008.281.

青白玉質，束腰梯形，前後面略鼓，打窪浮雕卷雲紋組成之獸面，眉眼以陰線細勾，打磨精細，寶光含蘊。 

劍珌為玉具劍劍鞘底部之飾物，又有稱為劍鏢者。玉具劍西周已經出現，東周更為流行，戰漢時期成為貴族士人風尚，裝飾繁複到達巔峰，楚辭有「帶長鈹之陸離兮，冠切雲之崔嵬」之句，可知佩劍裝服之浮誇。商丘市博物館藏一件西漢白玉劍珌紋飾、形制與本件頗似，見楊伯達編，《中國玉器全集》，石家莊，2005年，卷4，圖版197。亦可參考大英博物館藏一件東周劍珌，裝飾風格近似，尺寸稍短，載於Jessica Rawson著，《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995，頁298，圖版21:8。紐約佳士得曾售出一件東周至西漢劍珌亦資比較，2008年3月19日，編號480，現藏紐約大都會博物館，館藏編號2008.281。