Figurine - Hongshan Cultuur Ritueel object van Tektiet - Antiek Verzamelobject - Natural Glass

Rare ritual object of mysterious function, made entirely of Natural Glass by a member of the Chinese Hongshan Culture, which originated in the Neolithic period, some 4,000 years ago.

What is natural glass, also known as desert glass? Natural glass is nothing less than a wonder of nature, formed naturally millions of years ago by the impact of a meteorite.

When a large meteorite hits the Earth, an astronomical amount of energy is released, generating such high temperatures that the sand melts into enormous chunks of “natural glass” that remain in the craters.

The best-known example of this phenomenon is the so-called “Libyan Glass,” which is considered so valuable that it is sold by the gram. Much less well known is the Chinese version of this glass, which members of the ancient Hongshan Culture mined and hand-carved into figures, such as the beautiful deity figure shown here.

For anyone wishing to learn more about this natural glass, I would be happy to refer them to the text of a lecture Professor David Anderson gave on the subject to the Royal Geographical Society of Hong Kong. The text can be found online via Google under the title “The Riddle of Chinese Glass.”

A video of the lecture itself can be found on YouTube under the title “Hongshan Culture and the Mystery of China's Unique Natural Glass.”

The Hongshan Culture, in which this ornament was created, is still shrouded in many mysteries, as research into this culture is still in its early stages.

Because the very remote Hongshan archaeological site in northeastern China was discovered and studied relatively late by Japanese (!) researchers, these finds were long ignored by the Chinese scientific elite, who had always assumed that the cradle of Chinese civilization lay elsewhere.

In recent years, however, there has been a tendency to revise this view, and there is now a gradual acknowledgment that the birthplace of Chinese civilization may indeed be located in Hongshan (meaning “red mountain” in Chinese, named after the site).

China's current leaders have therefore announced that the focus of scientific research into the earliest origins of Chinese civilization will increasingly shift to the aforementioned area.

Alongside this announcement, a series of books and TV documentaries are scheduled for the coming years, aiming to bring the Hongshan Culture to the attention of a wider global audience. For now, only a handful of publications offering further information are available to us.

The standard work on this field of research was written by the Scottish Professor David C. Anderson, mentioned above, and is titled “Hongshan Jade Treasures: The Art, Iconography and Authentication of Carvings from China's Finest Neolithic Culture.” It is a very informative and richly illustrated book, which also devotes considerable attention to this type of natural glass. However, due to growing interest in the Hongshan Culture, the book is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.

For those unable to find a copy, I recommend consulting the English-language Wikipedia page dedicated to the “Hongshan Culture” (also available in many other languages).

Such figurines with so-called “provenance” (documented ownership history) are often sold for (very) high prices at famous auction houses. It is only because the provenance of this example is undocumented that it can be offered without a reserve price and acquired by the highest bidder.

There is no certainty about the precise age of this delicate sculpture; all that can be said is that it possesses all the stylistic characteristics of this ancient, lost civilization.

Dimensions: 21 cm x 6 cm x 4 cm. Weight: 0.58 kg.

The object will be shipped to the buyer immediately via a Track & Trace service, very carefully packaged to prevent any damage in transit.