Ornament

About this object

History of use

The original piece may have been made between 2300-1800 B.C.E. (Lungshan), to be used ritually, on a tomb. Appears to have been reworked in the late 19th or early 20th century to be worn as a bracelet. Possibly constructed originally as a longer tube without outer ridges, and thicker. The outer rings would have been worked, by hand, to make it more decorative and the inside carved to be thinner, to fit on a writst. Such changes would have made it more valuable in the early 20th century market.

Physical description

Tubular shaped jade ornament or bracelet. Made of a single piece of carved jade in mottled green and brown; thin walled, somewhat irregular. Piece is smooth and polished to a shine on interior while exterior is carved with a series of encircling ridges. Rims are slightly bevelled.