A rare archaic green jade 'mask' bead


Late Shang/Early Western Zhou DynastyThickly walled with a central channel, the sides with two taotie masks formed by a large nose underneath two slanted eyes and a pair of horns flanking a rectangular crest carved with grooved chevron design forming a hat, with two narrow grooves carved across the base forming claws, the stone of yellowish-green tone with some dark wears to grooves. 3.2cm (1 1/4in) high.
|商晚期/西周早期 獸面紋玉𤨕Compare with a related archaic jade 'mask' bead in the Palace Museum, Beijing, late Shang dynasty, illustrated in Yang Boda, Zhongguo yuqi quanji (Compendium of Chinese Jade), vol.1, Shijiazhuang, 2005, p.185, no.191.白玉偏青，管狀，前後淺浮雕兩組獸面，獸面上下分兩部分，上部似寶冠，正中刻羽狀陰紋，對稱兩側刻扇狀紋飾，下半部分雕獸眼，翻鼻。北京故宮藏一件商代晚期獸形玉𤨕可作參考，見楊伯達著，《中國玉器全集（上）》，石家莊，2005年，頁185，編號191。