Catalogue entry no. 521 by Max Loehr:
521 Pyxis
Translucent light green jade, with brown veins and slightly calcified, bone-colored patches. The vessel is cylindrical and fairly thin-walled. It stands on three short feet and is provided with an elegantly recurved annular handle. Opposite this handle is a ring suspended from a loop that is set into an animal mask on the side of the vessel. The surface of the wall is decorated with a meticulously carved pattern of small squarish knobs arranged in two zones, which are separated by a plain concave band. A net of engraved lines connects these knobs vertically, sideways, and diagonally. On the inside of the bottom is an incised medallion composed of a tripartite whorl turning left, the petals of a quatrefoil in tangential position, and a quadripartite whorl turning right around the petals. The same medallion appears in smaller scale on the outside of the bottom, where it is surrounded by a “cloud scroll” of curlicues and hooks connected by sweeping, overlapping curvilinear bands. A remarkable quality of this scroll design is the absence of symmetry and repetition.
The lid, which is convex, is decorated on its upper face with a narrow zone of discontinuous curvilinear motifs, within which are situated three distinct, simple mountain forms, and with a simple quatrefoil design in the center. The décor zones are framed and divided by two concentric, plain concave bands. Attached to the center of the lid by means of an ingenious device is a small fluted jade ring. It is held in place by a moveable loop with a shank that passes through an oval hole pierced through the lid just off center. In turn, This shank is engaged below the lid by a plano-convex button with an oval hole to receive the ends of the shank. Small perforations through the button and the shank allow a splint to pass through them, connecting them in such a manner that the splint would be barely visible.
The lid is inserted into a rather heavy, gilt bronze ring. On the upper side, the ring is modeled in high relief configurations, showing three felines in varying postures moving in a terrain suggested by curved bands. Between the three sectors allotted to felines are rectangular slots into which are inserted three standing bird figures, superb creatures with tall necks, crested heads, nicely modeled wings, soaring plumes, and crisply curved tails. End of Eastern Chou or Western Han.
