AN ARCHAISTIC JADE TABLET, GUIBI Ming Dynasty or laterA London private collection of jade carvings and Chinese works of art, lots 1-104AN ARCHAISTIC JADE TABLET, GUIBIMing Dynasty or laterCarved with an archaistic bi on one side incised with four taotie masks, flanked by a blade incised with curling waves over the base of the shaft, and a sprawling chi dragon turning to look down towards the bi, the reverse incised with a star constellation.14.5cm (5 3/4in) longProvenance: P.H. Plesch Collection [label]Mrs. Christian R. Holmes Collection [label]A London private collection amassed between the 1970s and 1990s and thence by descent.The combination of the gui and bi into a single object was part of the interest in archaism which arose from the Song Dynasty onwards. In the words of Jessica Rawson, who illustrates a Ming example Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.92, fig.88, 'although no such combination of disc and pointed blade had existed, the attempt at the combination and careful rendering of the surface ornament indicate concern, if displaced, for historical accuracy' (p. 91). The Guyu tupu, compiled in 1176 by imperial commission, is the among the first such books on ancient jades to illustrate a guibi.This jade was collected by two important 20th Century collectors. Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871 – 1941) collected widely and lent pieces for major exhibitions of Chinese art held at the Royal Academy in London in 1935 and 1936. Professor Peter Hariolf Plesch (1918 - 2013), doctor to Albert Einstein, was a member of the Oriental Ceramic Society and known for his fascination with Chinese glass.