Jade C Serpent
03 June 2021
Description

Approximately 11 " made of jade

Provenance

Made of jade , I think its from the Hongshan dynasty. Found at local antique shop.

Acquired from
Other
For sale
Maybe
Answered within 5 days
By Leah I.
Jun 07, 22:57 UTC
Fair Market Value
$300 - $400 USD
Suggested Asking Price $350 USD
What does this mean?

Thank you for contacting Mearto and I apologize for the delay. This is a carving of a Hongshan pig dragon (zhūlóng 玉猪龙). It appears to be carved from nephrite, a stone sometimes referred to as jade but more commonly used. The Hongshan (“red mountain”) culture is a neolithic Chinese civilization that thrived from 4700 to 2900 BCE. Carved stone pig dragons were used as grave goods.

There are two main types of pig dragons: the early style is chunkier, the later style is more slender. Yours is in the later style, though usually the base is simpler than yours. The base appears to be of an animal; I did not see any like this except for an example of a frog hybrid. I put a link below, and the website of the auctioneer. I am not sure if the piece is authentic.

The nostril holes on yours also stand out as unusual, and are not seen on authentic pieces. Authentic Hongshan sculptures are rare and very expensive. They also tend to be smaller. As an example, a “large” pig dragon sold by Christie’s is under 5”. Usually, these sculptures are forgeries. A documented provenance is key in valuation for these kinds of items.

Below I have added some links, including some examples of auction sales of authentic and imitation pig dragons. In the case of yours being an imitation, the Fair Market Value would be between $300 and $400, based on other sales of these kinds of sculptures. Please bear in mind that many of these items sell for lower and the market is varied.

Let me know if you have questions for me or if I can provide more help with this.

Hongshan Pig Dragons:

Early:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Museum_Chinese_jade_Neolithic_period_Hongshan_culture_Coiled_dragon_Pig-dragon_11022019_1393.jpg

Late:
https://www.chinastory.cn/PCzwdbk/detail_v2/20201104/1006000000039761604479258236285542_1.html

Sales:

$800,000, “large” (4.5 inches)
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6237488

$130,000
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/42374115_a-chinese-jade-pig-dragon-pendant

$5000
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/79098073_hongshan-culture-hemo-jade-pig-dragon

$1400
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/97588834_hongshan-culture-jade-pig-dragon

Imitation sales:

$500
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/54605913_ming-chinese-jade-pig-dragon-pendant

$260
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/44839040_8-hong-shan-style-pig-dragon-with-stand

$300
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/45561306_two-pieces-of-chinese-archaic-jade-pendants

$375
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/63955832_antique-chinese-hongshan-culture-brown-jade-c-shaped

Dragon frog combo, $4000
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/38272352_6000-year-old-hongshan-culture-jade-dragon-frog-hybrid

House: https://www.chinaartwindow.com/

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