EIGHT BI-CONICAL WHITE JADE BEADS, EASTERN ZHOUJade. China, Eastern Zhou, 4th – 3rd century BCThe eight small bi-conical beads are decorated with a pattern of small spirals in relief and an incised line that delimits the border of each end. The beads are carved from translucent white jade and show areas of opaque calcification.Small beads like the present group were commonly used in the Eastern Zhou period as components of pendants. The jades were strung together with gold or metal chains which passed through the hole drilled at the center of the beads.Literature comparison:Compare with a group of three similar beads published in Filippo Salviati, 4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna 2017, pp. 200-201, no. 206.LENGTH 3 cm eachProvenance: Private Collection of Irene and Wolfgang Zacke (1942-2022).