An extremely rare pale celadon jade 'kneeling human' ornament, Mid - late Shang dynasty | 商中晚期 青白玉蹲踞人形飾

The present well-carved jade finial or insignia is extremely rare for its unusual design depicting a kneeling figure in virtual three-dimensional form, as opposed to the more commonly found examples carved to depict animals.

Jade carvings with humanoid decorations are very rare in Shang dynasty. The distinct pose of hands bent in front of the chest as seen in present lot appeared on earlier examples of jade carvings dated to the Neolithic period, such as a jade standing figure from Niuheliang site,Liaoning province, illustrated in Niuheliang – Hongshan wenhua yizhi fajue baogao (1983-2003) [Niuheliang: Archaeological report of the Hongshan culture site], Beijing, 2012, vol. 2, no. 73, and another jade figure from Lingjiatan site, Anhui province, illustrated in Jenny F. So, ‘Shiqian yuzhuo mianmianguan [Understanding ancient jade bangles from multiple perspectives]’, Yang Jin and Jiang Weidong, eds, Jade Soul and the National Spirit: Selected Papers from the Academic Conference on the Ancient Chinese Jade and Traditional Culture, vol. 5, Hangzhou, 2012, pp. 275-281, fig. 1:1. They are believed to be images of deities or shamans, and symbols of great spiritual potency, see Jenny F. So, Chinese Jades from the Cissy and Robert Tang Collection, op.cit., p. 67.

Compare a closely related jade ‘crowned figure’ pendant from the tomb of the Shang consort, Fu Hao, at Anyang, the last capital of the Shang kings, illustrated in Yinxu Fu Hao mu / Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang, Beijing, 1980, p. 154, fig. 81:4, whereby the figure shows its arms and legs in similarly bent positions, and its haunch similarly accentuated by a circular cross symbol. See also another related jade standing figure also from the tomb of Fu Hao, showing the same symmetrical wing-like extensions at the top of the head, illustrated in ibid., p. 154, fig. 81:6.

玉質泛青，背面留硃砂痕跡，呈三角立體片狀。正面雕一有冠玉人，大眼，大耳，高鼻，頭戴冠。玉人呈蹲距狀，手臂捲曲於胸前，屈膝，大胯兩側各有一十字圓形紋飾，羽冠及底部四角有小孔，或為固定裝飾而用。背面印刻蟬紋。以簡單有力的線條極形象的勾勒出人物形態。 

人形玉飾在商代玉雕中相對動物紋飾更為少見，此類屈膝蹲距、雙手似抱拳於胸前的形象最早在新時期時代玉雕中就有出現，例如遼寧牛河梁紅山文化遺址發掘的一例，見《牛河梁．紅山文化遺址發掘報告（1983-2003）》，北京，2012年，卷2，編號73，另見安徽凌家灘遺址出土的一件玉人，著錄於蘇芳淑，〈史前玉鐲面面觀〉，楊晶、蔣衛東主編，《玉魂國魄：中國古代玉器與傳統文化學術研討會文集（五）》，杭州，2012，頁275-281，圖1:1。有學者認為此類玉人象徵神人或被聖靈附體的巫師，具有與萬物通靈的能力，相關論述見蘇芳淑，《玉澤恆輝》，前述出處，頁67。

殷墟婦好墓中出土的一些片狀玉器，亦見類似的玉人形象，如現藏於中國社會科學院考古研究所的一件高冠玉人，著錄於《殷墟婦好墓》，北京，1980年，頁154，圖81:4，其雙壁捲曲於胸前的蹲距狀與本拍品極為相似，且其臀部亦雕刻有類似的十字圓形紋飾，或象徵特殊身份。同墓葬中還出土一件玉立人，頭部所戴冠與本品所飾頭冠非常相似，同上註，頁154，圖81:6。