Lot 152
TWO CHINESE TURQUOISE MATRIX CARINGS OF RAM AND TOAD
HAN DYNASTY
Auction: 06 November 2026 from 10:00 GMT
Description
漢 綠松石袖珍臥羊及蟾蜍珠飾（共兩件）
realistically carved in the form of a recumbent ram and a toad, each drilled through, the colour of the turquoise stone, mottled with metallic grey colour (2)
Dimensions
widths: 1.1cm and 2cm
Provenance
Private collection, England
英格蘭私人收藏
Footnote
Turquoise has been used in personal ornaments since the Shang period, and continued to enjoy popularity during the Han dynasty. Some turquoise beads in the shape of miniature birds and animals were excavated from Jinning, Yunnan province and are now in the collection of the Yunnan Provincial Museum. See Gu, Fang ed. Complete Collection of Unearthed Jades in China- vol. 12 Yunnan, Guizhou& Xizang, Ke xue chu ban she, Beijing, 2005, p. 86.
Two comparable miniature animals, including a ram and a duck made of black amber, were part of a string of beads excavated from a Western Han dynasty tomb at Yaozhuang, Yangzhou, Jiansu province, and are now in the collection of the Yangzhou Museum. See Gu, Fang ed. Complete Collection of Unearthed Jades in China- vol. 7 Jiangsu & Shanghai, Ke xue chu ban she, Beijing, 2005, p. 142. Two closely comparable turquoise miniature rams dated to the Han dynasty are in the Kwan collection, Hong Kong. See Yang, Boda, Chinese Archaic Jades from the Kwan Collection, Art Gallery of Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994, no. 221. Also compare to another turquoise ram, Han dynasty, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong 8 April 2023, lot 3837.
綠松石配飾在商代即已發現，至漢代仍盛行，尤以雲南滇文化為代表。雲南省晉寧縣石寨山13號墓出土四件西漢綠松石迷你鳥獸形珠，現藏於雲南省博物館。江蘇省揚州市邗江區甘泉姚庄101墓出土九件西漢迷你串飾，包含以煤精製成的迷你鴨及臥羊各一，型態與本品類似，現藏於揚州博物館。香港關氏藏有漢代迷你綠松石羊兩件，形制與雕刻與本品極為相似，載於香港中文大學文物館出版《關氏所藏古玉》。另參香港蘇富比2023年4月8日拍品3837售出之綠松石羊形佩。