Object: Pendant in the form of a fish S1987.472

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 7 x 1.3 x 0.3 cm (2 3/4 x 1/2 x 1/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.472

: 魚形飾
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高1.3、寬7、厚0.3釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.472

Provenance: To 1959
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, NY, and Ridgefield, Connecticut [1]

From 1963 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from the Bahr Collection in 1963 [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] According to information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009.

[2] See #176: "Grey green partly calcified. Straight body," on list provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009, copy in object file.

[3] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated object was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

Previous owner(s): Abel William Bahr (1877-1959)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Fish pendant with straight body, incised details; pierced; dull olive-green coloration. (Partly calcified; some deposits.)

Past label text: 1. In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.556, S1987.549, S1987.632, S1987.634, S1987.843, S1987.477, S1987.555, S1987.573, S1987.633, S1987.475, and S1987.461)

Fish Pendant (Yu Pei 魚珮)
12th–11th centuries BCE
Shang 商 dynasty
China
Jade

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 1, 2008) Jewelry added as secondary classification.

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 23, 2010) Object name changed from "Pendant: fish" to "Jewelry." Title changed from "Pendant (yu pei 魚珮): fish" to "Pendant (pei 珮) in the form of a fish."

3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, May 4, 2018) Title changed from "Pendant (yu pei) in the form of a fish" to "Pendant in the form of a fish"; period one changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period two added "Anyang period"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; date changed from "ca. 12th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)"; object name changed from "jewelry" to "Pendant"; added Chinese object caption by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the description field, "Fish pendant with straight body, incised details; pierced; dull olive-green coloration. (Partly calcified; some deposits.)"; and added label text by Thomas Lawton.

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Pendant in the form of a fish

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