A WHITE JADE 'DRAGON' BI DISC, WESTERN HAN

A WHITE JADE 'DRAGON' BI DISC, WESTERN HAN DYNASTY
China, 206 BC to 8 AD. The disc is composed of two sections equal in size and carved to the center in openwork with a dragon, highlighted by incisions along its body and tail. The surface is decorated on both sides in high relief with comma spirals within inner and outer raised borders. The translucent stone is of an even white tone with brownish-beige alterations and cloudy-white hues.

Provenance: The Private Collection of Irene and Wolfgang Zacke. The couple has been active in the art trade for well over half a century and were one of the first in Austria to offer Asian works of art for sale, starting in 1968. Since the late 1980s, they have been collecting ancient Chinese jades, building an extensive collection over the decades.
Condition: Good condition with minor old wear, extensive traces of weathering and erosion, and a few minuscule nicks here and there.

Weight: 297.3 g
Dimensions: Diameter 18.8 cm

Two-section discs such as the present lot are unusual. For an ancient drawing of a plain disc composed of two equally sized halves, see Wu Dacheng, Gu Yu Tu Kao (Investigations into Ancient Jades with Illustrations), 1889, Shanghai, vol. 1, pp. 25 (see fig. 1).

Auction result comparison: Compare a related but considerably smaller bi disc of 8.5 cm diameter, also with comma spirals and a central dragon, but of single section, at Christie's Hong Kong, in Adorning the Kings - A Private Collection of Archaic Jade Ornaments, on 31 May 2017, lot 2732, sold for HKD 5,460,000.

西漢白玉透雕龍紋璧
中國，西元前206至西元 8年。圓璧由大小相等的兩部分組成，中央鏤空雕刻一條龍，龍身和其尾部的切口突出。玉璧表面兩側高浮雕穀丁紋。 半透明的石頭呈均勻的白色，帶有棕色紋理和白色絮狀脈絡。

來源：Irene 與Wolfgang Zacke收藏。這對夫妻一直活躍於藝術品行業已有半個多世紀，自1968年起他們開始在奧地利經營亞洲藝術品，是最早的商人之一。自1980年代後期以來，他們一直在收集中國古玉，數十年來建立了一個大規模的收藏。
品相：品相良好，輕微的舊磨損，大量風化和侵蝕的痕跡，以及局部一些微小的刻痕。

重量：297.3 克
尺寸：直徑18.8 厘米

拍賣結果比較：一件穀丁紋透雕龍紋玉璧，直徑為 8.5 厘米，見香港佳士得 Adorning the Kings - A Private Collection of Archaic Jade Ornaments 2017年5月31日 lot 2732, 售價HKD 5,460,000。