17. Han Dynasty Jade Bi with low relief carving and open-worked Extension, H. 53.7cms, W. 33cms, T. 1cm

本器和田青玉雕琢, 形制為出廓玉璧. 出廓部分頂端飾象徵天籟的圓環, 圓環則由龍首相向而身體交互重疊的雙龍所環繞, 下端毗鄰璧的地方則飾神面. 璧分三層, 均為淺浮雕紋飾. 外層為遠古傳說圖, 計有伏羲女媧交合圖, 女媧補天圖,圖中的T字符號表示矩尺座, 原名「Norma」是拉丁語.   仰天長嘯圖, 馴馬圖, 駕馭馬車圖, 補白處飾龍鳳紋. 中間層飾武士比武圖, 兩武士比劍, 一武士騎馬射箭, 一武士為大力士. 比劍的兩武士中, 一人顯然屈居下風, 伸出食指, 面向後仰呈痛苦狀. 騎馬的武士則徉裝後退, 回首射出泠箭, 大力士手持重型兵器, 有萬夫莫敵之勢, 最內層蟠龍. 本器構圖涵蓋耐人尋味的傳說, 各紋飾的呈現表情傳神. 本器差異風化,  溶蝕孔, 石灰沁等古玉跡象明顯, 是漢代出廓玉璧精品. (來源:  家族百年收藏)

The object is carved with green tone Hetian jade and is in the shape of a jade bi with extension. The top of the extension part is decorated with a ring symbolizing heaven which is surrounded by double dragons with the head facing each other and overlapping the bodies, and the place adjacent to the bi is decorated with the face of God. The bi is divided into three sections, all of which are decorated with low-relief motifs. The outer section is a scene of ancient legends, including a scene of Fuxi and Nuwa intercourse, and a scene of Nuwa patching the sky. The character symbol T expresses this meaning. The scene of a man howling up to the sky, the scene of horse training, the scene of cavalry driving a carriage, and the dragon and phoenix pattern are for the padding. The middle section is decorated with a scene of knights fighting, two competing with swords, one riding on horseback with archery, and a knight with super strength. Of the two warriors, one of them was clearly at a disadvantage, stretched out his index finger, and faced back in pain. The warrior on horseback stepped back and turned his head to shoot the arrow.  The innermost section is a crawling dragon.  The object covers intriguing legends, and the expressions of each decoration are expressive. This object has obvious signs of differential weathering, dissolved pits, and calcification. It is an excellent jade bi with an extension from the Han Dynasty.