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Lot Essay
The trident-shaped carving is a distinctive type of jade carving unique to the Liangzhu Culture. It is typically assembled with multiple conical vessels to create a magnificent headdress. It is more commonly found within the Zhejiang province.
The present carving is drilled with a vertical channel on each prong from both sides. The front side is carved in shallow relief with fine incised lines to depict a simplified divine figure with only the crown remaining. Below the divine figure is a spiritual animal with large, circular eyes, peach-shaped eyelids, a bridge-like nose decorated with cloud patterns, and a wide mouth revealing tusks.
The Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology houses several trident-shaped carvings from the Liangzhu culture, most of which are larger. One (7.4 cm. long) is especially similar to the present carving, but larger in size and has a curved lower end, see Zhongguo yuqi quanji-1-Primitive Societies, Hebei, 1993, p. 192, no. 275 (fig. 1).
The present carving is drilled with a vertical channel on each prong from both sides. The front side is carved in shallow relief with fine incised lines to depict a simplified divine figure with only the crown remaining. Below the divine figure is a spiritual animal with large, circular eyes, peach-shaped eyelids, a bridge-like nose decorated with cloud patterns, and a wide mouth revealing tusks.
The Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology houses several trident-shaped carvings from the Liangzhu culture, most of which are larger. One (7.4 cm. long) is especially similar to the present carving, but larger in size and has a curved lower end, see Zhongguo yuqi quanji-1-Primitive Societies, Hebei, 1993, p. 192, no. 275 (fig. 1).