Carved jade plaque “Dragons and phoenix”, Western Han dynasty

Greenish jade plate with amber, cream and reddish spots with carved and incised decorations.

It has a bell-shaped structure, rounded in the lower area and ending in two large volutes. The body shows four archaic dragons with sinuous and coiled body made in relief, two of them placed around a small “Bi” decorated with grain pattern “谷纹”. On the sides, flanking the composition, are arranged two beautiful phoenix birds, with curved beaks and long spiraling tails. The reverse is adorned with this same scene but done incised on jade, and being one the dragon, which is arranged in the center, and phoenix birds the rest. It shows patina. 

Size: 16.5 x 2.2 x 11.3 cm

Weight: 384 g