East Asia, China, later Qing Dynasty, ca. 19th century CE. A very pale near-translucent moss green nephrite jade belt buckle, composed of two pieces - one featuring a curved tongue and the other a slot. Both have round, raised toggles on their backs for attachment to leather or some other material used to complete the full belt. Both feature a dramatic openwork carving of a sinuous dragon-like creature with a lioness head; the tongue is also shaped like the head of a lioness. Size of both when fit together: 3.6" W x 1.5" H (9.1 cm x 3.8 cm)
Chinese art has incorporated jade since the Neolithic period; quarries for nephrite, the formal name for jade, have been found in modern-day southern Mongolia that date to ca. 4000 BCE. The stone was prized for its hardness, its beautiful coloration (with a milky white being the most desired), and its durability. By the third millennium BCE, we know that jade had also come to be associated with immortality. Jade was used to make everything from everyday household objects and decoration to the ceremonial suits in which Han dynasty emperors were buried - with the belief that jade would preserve the body and the soul for eternity.
Provenance: private Ventura County, California, USA collection, acquired in the 1980s to 1990s
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#150356
Condition
Both are intact, with light deposits on the surface. Motifs are well preserved. One tiny area of damage - as if it had a sharp impact - where the tongue slides into the slot.