Sculpture

Rare and intriguing sculpture depicting a horned deity with an extraterrestrial appearance, from Nefriet (often also called 'Nefriet Jade'), created by members of the Chinese Hongshan Culture, which originated in the Neolithic period, about 4,000 years ago. This very enigmatic, characterful figure weighs together with the cube-shaped plinth 382 g (0.38 kg), is 18 cm high, 6 cm wide and 6 cm deep. The sculpture alone weighs 227 g, is 12 cm high, 6 cm wide and 2.5 cm deep. The sculpture is delivered together with the plinth. The sculpture does not come with an age report, so the age cannot be determined with certainty, while the quality, execution, iconography and stylistic features do point to the Hongshan culture. The Hongshan culture, within which this sculpture was created, remains surrounded by many mysteries because research into this culture is still in its early stages. Scientists think that the decline of this advanced culture was caused by a large natural disaster of apocalyptic magnitude, such as a Biblical flood, to which the legendary vanished continent Atlantis would also have fallen. Some conspiracy theorists even believe that this vanished civilization maintained contact with extraterrestrials, because the sculptures can sometimes look very bizarre, and in some cases appear to fully correspond to the common image people have of aliens... Because the very remote archaeological Hongshan site in northeast China was discovered and studied only relatively late by Japanese (!) researchers, these finds were long ignored by the Chinese scientific elite, who always assumed that the cradle of Chinese civilization lay elsewhere. In recent years, however, this view has been revised and there is a hesitant admission that the cradle of Chinese civilization does indeed lie in Hongshan (which means 'red mountain' in Chinese, named after the find site). The current rulers in China have therefore announced that the focus of scientific research into the earliest origins of Chinese civilization will increasingly shift to the aforementioned region. Alongside this announcement, a series of books and TV documentaries are planned for the coming years to bring Hongshan culture more to the attention of the world public. For the time being we only have a few publications available that provide more information. An important reference book for this type of Hongshan sculpture is the catalog published by the prominent Aurora Museum in Shanghai (China), which also has a branch in Taipei (Taiwan). View the last photo with an image of the cover of this book, of which the sculpture is an example of the typical alien-like iconography. (Note: this book is not part of this lot and the photo is for reference only!) Anyone who fails to obtain a copy of this very rare book is advised to consult the English Wikipedia page dedicated to the 'Hongshan Culture' (also available in many other languages). There is no certainty about the precise age of this delicate sculpture, only that it possesses all the stylistic characteristics of this ancient, long-lost civilization. The rare object will be shipped immediately to the buyer with a Track & Trace shipment, very well packaged so that no damage can occur in transit.

Estimate:£0.84

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