An archaistic bi disc.

From the Collection of Dr Emil Hultmark (1872-1943), Stockholm, thence by descent within the family until now.

Dr Emil Hultmark was an art historian, collector, donor and patron of the arts. He combined important work as an art historian not only with the creation of one of the largest and most remarkable private art collections in Sweden, but also with the construction of an archive of Swedish artists and art craftsmen unparalleled in its extent, together with a library containing almost all that has been written about Swedish art.

Emil Hultmark was one of the co-founders of the ‘Kinaklubben’ (China Club) in Stockholm in the 1920's with Carl Kempe (1884-1967) and the Crown Prince Gustav Adolf. He is a well known collector and his beautiful home and summer house is well documented in the magazine 'Svenska Hem i ord och bild' in the 1930's, which provide us with a fascinating window into this golden age of European collecting.

The design of this archaistic bi disc, with the inner band of comma spirals within an outer band of interlaced horned masks and scrolls is based on that of earlier examples produced from the Eastern Zhou to the Western Han period (770 BC-AD 220), such as those included in the 2nd century BC tomb of the King of Nanyue and illustrated in Jades from the Tomb of the King of Nanyue, Hong Kong, 1991 and the example illustrated by Gu Fang (ed.), The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 11, Beijing, 2005, p. 51. (Fig. 1).