A RARE AND LARGE (33 CM) GREEN JADE DISK, BI, EARLY BRONZE AGE, QIJIA CULTURE

Expert authentication:
Sam Myers has examined the present lot in 2017 and confirmed its authenticity and the dating above. He appraised it at a value of USD 30,000 (or approx. EUR 33,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). A copy of the valuation from Myrna Myers Arts d'Extrême Orient, Paris, written and signed by Sam Myers, dated 5 May 2017, accompanies this lot.
Sam Myers is a scholar and expert of Chinese jades and works of art with over 50 years of experience. In 1976, his wife Myrna Myers opened a gallery in Paris specializing in Asian art, and together the couple built an extraordinary art collection, including one of the world's most distinguished jade collections, published in numerous catalogs and seen around the world in a number of important museum exhibitions.

China, circa 2200-1900 BC. Of circular form with a centrally drilled aperture. The finely polished, semi-translucent stone of an attractive sage green tone with different shades of brown patches and veining as well as areas of cream-white calcification.

Provenance: Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, United States, by 2008. Collection of Lord Anthony Jacobs, London, United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Collection of Marla M. Kosec, London, United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Lord Anthony Jacobs (1931-2014) was a distinguished British businessman, politician, and philanthropist best known for his leadership of enterprises such as BSM driving schools and the Spudulike restaurant chain. From 1999 to 2002 he sat on the House of Lords Works of Art Committee, reflecting his deep engagement with the arts while building a notable collection over his lifetime. Marla M. Kosec (born 1956) is an American medical professional entrepreneur, philanthropist, and devoted collector whose life has been shaped by decades of travel, service to others, and enduring friendships formed in China, Indonesia, and England. Over 18 years, she assembled a deeply personal collection of Buddhist art and Chinese jades, which she views not as possessions but as living companions.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, signs of prolonged burial, traces of weathering and erosion, minor nibbling and small chips to edges. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairlines.

Weight: 2,371 g
Dimensions: Diameter 33 cm

With a modern metal stand. (2)

Large bi disks like the current example are rare, with even the largest comparable disks recorded in private and public collections seldomly exceeding 30 cm and most ranging between 10 and 20 cm. The present disk belongs to the Qijia Culture of Gansu, as indicated by its undecorated surface, the quality of the stone, and the proportionally small central aperture. Before the 1980s, the Qijia culture was virtually unknown to scholars. No excavation reports or related archaeological data existed to account for this culture. Only recently, with the 2005 publication of the 15 volume study, The Complete Set of Unearthed Chinese Jades, edited by Gu Fang, was this culture brought to the attention of scholars. By the time the Qijia people carved this disk, jade had already been exploited by various Neolithic cultures for several millennia, including the closely related plain ritual disks associated with the Liangzhu culture of the Yangtze River Delta (late 4th to late 3rd millennium BC). The Qijia jade bi and cong are generally of larger size than those of the Liangzhu and they more consistently display a lack of any decoration, which contributes to the sense that these jade artifacts were important for symbolic and ritual purposes.

Literature comparison:
Compare two closely related jade bi with similar small central apertures, 27.3 cm and 32.1 cm diameter, found at Houliugoucun, Jingning, Gansu province, and illustrated in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 15, Beijing, 2005, p. 4-5. Compare a closely related jade bi disk, 38-39 cm diameter, attributed to the Longshan-Qijia System, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, object number 中玉000634N000000000. Compare a related Liangzhu jade bi disk, 32 cm diameter, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1917.974.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's Hong Kong, 2 May 2025, lot 1002
Mid-Estimate: HKD 500,000 or approx. EUR 55,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A jade disc, bi, Qijia culture, circa 2300-1500 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and manner of carving. Note the smaller size (21 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 19 March 2015, lot 471
Price: USD 40,000 or approx. EUR 46,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large dark green hardstone bi disc, China, Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture, 3rd millennium BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and manner of carving. Note the smaller size (21.2 cm) and earlier dating.

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