A set of eleven white jade ‘musicians and dancers’ belt plaques, Tang dynasty 唐 白玉雕伎樂紋帶珮一組十一件
A set of eleven white jade ‘musicians and dancers’ belt plaques,
Tang dynasty
唐 白玉雕伎樂紋帶珮一組十一件
largest: l. 5.2 cm
Condition Report:
A small shallow flake to the corner of the left in the second row in website photo (approx. 0.4cm wide), some very minute nicks to the extremities and some light natural stone flaws to each plaques, expected and typical of its type and period.
圖中第二排左一角有一淺磕，約0.4cm寬，每片四周邊緣皆有極小磕碰及些許天然瑕疵，屬正常。
Catalogue Note:
This exquisite set of eleven belt plaques consists of a larger, rounded-corner tuowei plaque and ten smaller kua plaques. Each plaque's top face is intricately carved with a continuous perimeter bevel border, enclosing a foreign dancer or musician in low relief.
This set appears to be one of the largest published Tang dynasty jade belts. For comparison, two pale-celadon jade sets were unearthed from Hejia village in Xi'an—one featuring sixteen plaques carved with foreign musicians and the other with fifteen plaques adorned with animals, which are illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji [Treasures of Chinese Arts and Crafts], Beijing, 1986, pls.219 and 220. Jade belt plaques depicting foreigners were popular during the Tang dynasty. A square white jade belt plaque, for example, displays a kneeling foreigner offering tributes, and is housed in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see ibid, pl.225. See another plaque featuring a foreign musician playing a flute in the Junkunc Collection, sold in our New York rooms on March 19, 2019, lot 117. Similar designs can be found in belts made from other materials, such as agate. A set of nine agate belt plaques in the British Museum, as illustrated by J. Rawson and J. Ayers in Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, London, 1975, pl 222.
此套白玉胡人舞樂帶板玉質白皙透潤，人物雕琢細膩生動，刀痕所見，紋飾多為砣磨而成，極為費工耗時，且難以刻畫生動。
唐人甚寶玉質腰帶，其上多雕琢胡人或動物形象。參考西安何家村出土兩套唐代青玉帶板，分別十六塊及十五塊，其中十六塊一套之紋飾與本件頗為相似，惟本件拍品之玉質更為白潤，見《中國美術全集·工藝美術篇·玉器》，北京，1986年，圖版219及220。胡人題材在唐代帶板裝飾中頗為流行，如北京故宮博物院藏一件唐代白玉胡人獻寶帶板，見前書，圖版225；紐約蘇富比曾售出一件瓊肯舊藏之唐代白玉胡人吹簫帶板，2019年3月19日，拍品117號。同期亦有其他材質之胡人裝飾帶板，如大英博物館藏一套九件瑪瑙帶板，見J.Rawson及J.Ayers著，《Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages》，倫敦，1975年，圖版222。
Provenance:
The Peony Collection.
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A set of eleven white jade ‘musicians and dancers’ belt plaques,
Tang dynasty
唐 白玉雕伎樂紋帶珮一組十一件
largest: l. 5.2 cm
Condition Report:
A small shallow flake to the corner of the left in the second row in website photo (approx. 0.4cm wide), some very minute nicks to the extremities and some light natural stone flaws to each plaques, expected and typical of its type and period.
圖中第二排左一角有一淺磕，約0.4cm寬，每片四周邊緣皆有極小磕碰及些許天然瑕疵，屬正常。
Catalogue Note:
This exquisite set of eleven belt plaques consists of a larger, rounded-corner tuowei plaque and ten smaller kua plaques. Each plaque's top face is intricately carved with a continuous perimeter bevel border, enclosing a foreign dancer or musician in low relief.
This set appears to be one of the largest published Tang dynasty jade belts. For comparison, two pale-celadon jade sets were unearthed from Hejia village in Xi'an—one featuring sixteen plaques carved with foreign musicians and the other with fifteen plaques adorned with animals, which are illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji [Treasures of Chinese Arts and Crafts], Beijing, 1986, pls.219 and 220. Jade belt plaques depicting foreigners were popular during the Tang dynasty. A square white jade belt plaque, for example, displays a kneeling foreigner offering tributes, and is housed in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see ibid, pl.225. See another plaque featuring a foreign musician playing a flute in the Junkunc Collection, sold in our New York rooms on March 19, 2019, lot 117. Similar designs can be found in belts made from other materials, such as agate. A set of nine agate belt plaques in the British Museum, as illustrated by J. Rawson and J. Ayers in Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, London, 1975, pl 222.
此套白玉胡人舞樂帶板玉質白皙透潤，人物雕琢細膩生動，刀痕所見，紋飾多為砣磨而成，極為費工耗時，且難以刻畫生動。
唐人甚寶玉質腰帶，其上多雕琢胡人或動物形象。參考西安何家村出土兩套唐代青玉帶板，分別十六塊及十五塊，其中十六塊一套之紋飾與本件頗為相似，惟本件拍品之玉質更為白潤，見《中國美術全集·工藝美術篇·玉器》，北京，1986年，圖版219及220。胡人題材在唐代帶板裝飾中頗為流行，如北京故宮博物院藏一件唐代白玉胡人獻寶帶板，見前書，圖版225；紐約蘇富比曾售出一件瓊肯舊藏之唐代白玉胡人吹簫帶板，2019年3月19日，拍品117號。同期亦有其他材質之胡人裝飾帶板，如大英博物館藏一套九件瑪瑙帶板，見J.Rawson及J.Ayers著，《Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages》，倫敦，1975年，圖版222。
Provenance:
The Peony Collection.
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