China, Late Eastern Zhou (Warring Kingdoms)/Han dynasty (3rd - Lot 21

China, Late Eastern Zhou (Warring Kingdoms)/Han dynasty (3rd-1st c. B.C.) Bone sword scabbard slide (or belt element), forming a rectangular loop with two grooves on the upper side. In custom-made box. L. 5.9 cm Small chips. Provenance : Collection acquired (by the current owner's husband) from Marianne Densmore in the early 1960s in Paris, and at the sale of her collection after her death, on November 6, 7 and 8, 1968 at Drouot; some items therefore probably came from the collection of Charles Vignier (1863-1934), Marianne Densmore's brother, whose gallery she took over in 1934 (on his death). Compare its shape with an example of a jade scabbard slide in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jades, British Museum Press, 1995, p. 301, no. 21:13. For the material, see an example of an early Eastern Zhou bone scabbard slide sold at Christie's in New York on March 18, 2009, lot 234, from the collection of Arthur M. Sackler (acquired from J. T. Tai & Co, New York before 1966).