SHIJIAHE CULTURE - XIA DYNASTY, CIRCA 2500-1600 BC

The present carving is unique. Although a few other jade carvings from the Shijiahe culture feature ancestral masks, most of them are shown frontally, and none exhibit the same crescent-shaped profile head as the current carving. The carving style of the present carving closely resembles a crescent-shaped jade phoenix shown in profile from the Shijiahe culture, which was found in the tomb of Fuhao. This carving also shares a nearly identical openwork headdress to that worn by the present figure. For more details, see the catalogue of Mythological Jade of Shijiahe Culture Special Exhibition, Beijing, 2024, p. 109 (fig. 1). For Shijiahe jade carvings with ancestral masks depicted frontally, see an example in the Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, ibid., p. 7; and a celadon jade example from the Yangdetang Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, Chinese Archaic Jades from The Yangdetang Collection, 29 November 2017, lot 2722 (fig. 2). Compare also with a small group of cylindrical or tubular jade carvings with figural masks carved in relief, with simple headdress and without earrings, such as an example in the Tianmen Museum, Hubei, ibid., p. 37; and a yellow jade example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, The Chang Wei-Hwa Collection of Archaic Jades, Part 1 - Neolithic Period, 27 November 2019, lot 2752 (fig. 3).