"Pig dragon", Hongshan culture, Neolithic period (4700-2920 BC).

"Pig dragon", Hongshan culture, Neolithic period (4700-2920 BC).
Jade.
Funerary object.
Provenance: Throckmorton Gallery, New York.
Certificate of authenticity attached.
Measurements: 24.5 cm diameter.

This archaeological object, conventionally known as pig dragon, is one of the most emblematic types of the jadeite iconography of the Hongshan culture, one of the most advanced of the Neolithic period in the north of China. This culture is characterized by its early development of complex religious practices, ceremonial architecture (such as the circular and pyramidal platforms of Niuheliang), and a jade sculptural tradition unprecedented in East Asian prehistory.

The piece shows a stylized zoomorphic figure with a tubular body in a circle, without limbs, whose head presents morphological features similar to those of a pig: snout, prominent forehead, chiseled eyes, although with a strong abstract charge. The coiled, fetal-like posture evokes both gestation and return to earth, suggesting its symbolic association with life cycles, regeneration and death. In Proto-Chinese cosmological thought, these creatures may have been conceived as intermediate entities between the earthly and spiritual worlds, possible predecessors of the dragon as a tutelary figure in later Chinese culture.

The material - jade (nephrite) - was considered from early times a "substance of immortality," due to its hardness, luster and resistance to corruption. Working jade in the Neolithic period required months of labor using abrasive tools made of quartz and sandstone, without any metal, which underlines both the social value and the sacred character of the object. The green-brown tone and the chromatic alterations visible on the surface come from the burial process and the interaction with minerals in the soil.

Similar figures have been found in funerary contexts, arranged next to bodies or in ritual areas of collective burial, which confirms its function as a protective talisman, status marker or spiritual guide to the afterlife. Some theories even suggest its role as a tribal totem or ancestral symbol, perhaps related to mythological lineages or clans.