Ornamental jade carvings like huang plaques, pendants and beads, were manifestations of wealth and status, and were used as funerary items for the deceased. Jade ornaments also functioned to protect and preserve the physical body. These ornamental carvings were assembled in sets according to the time's fashions. |By the Warring States period, where long garments which required a belt at the waist became popular, pendent sets moved from being worn around the neck to hanging down a belt. A more extravagant aesthetic appeared fashionable compared to the early Zhou dynasty, with larger sized pieces of jade carvings including elaborate bi discs, beads and huang, each typically ornately embellished with raised bosses, incised carving and openwork dragons. See Art in Quest of Heaven and Truth – Chinese Jades through the Ages, Taipei, 2015, p.82.|Double-dragon-headed jade huang plaques were very popular, as evidenced by many examples in museums. Although they vary, the dragon heads are normally carved with pointed snouts and fierce expressions. The present pair of plaques are rarer for their rounded snouts and slightly more benign expressions. Compare a related jade huang with similarly styled dragon heads and spiral bosses, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade 3, Beijing, 2011, p.136, no.136. |此對玉璜青色泛綠，表面白化。體扁平，弧形呈半圓，雙面雕刻紋飾相同。璜的兩端琢為龍首，對稱雕刻，龍首有角，菱形眼睛，卷鼻上翹，口部微張，器身以浮雕飾密集的榖紋，器頂中間鑽一小孔，可供繫佩。整體造型優美，雕工精細。|在中國古代，玉璜與玉琮、玉璧、玉圭、玉璋和玉琥被稱為六器。六器為《周禮》中被稱為祭祀天地四方之神的禮器，此天地四方各為「以蒼璧禮天，以黃琮禮地，以青圭禮東方，以赤璋禮南方，以白琥禮西方，以玄璜禮北方」。玉璜由殷商時期的禮儀用品發展成為保存屍體而琢制的組佩飾件，作為身份、地位和財富的象徵。|大約在春秋、戰國時期，貴族們流行把上衣跟下裳連在一起，稱為「深衣」，從而需要在腰間繫上腰帶。組玉佩的佩戴方式亦從掛於脖子上逐漸改為掛在腰帶上，而璧、璜、管等為較典型的佩件，紋飾通常類似本拍品般比較繁複，請詳閱《敬天格物：中國歷代玉器》，台北，2013年，頁82。|戰國時期的玉璜以雙龍首璜十分常見，形制類似的玉璜亦多見於博物館。當時的玉璜雕刻通常較為尖銳，刀工鋒利，而本拍品的雙龍首璜兩端線條較為圓潤，十分稀少。北京故宮博物院藏一件尺寸較少的戰國玉龍首蠶紋璜可資比較，見《故宮博物院藏品大系:玉器編3:春秋戰國》，北京，2011年，圖版136。