Finial in the form of a human hybrid with dragon

• 1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 1, 2008) Jewelry added as secondary classification.
   
  2. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.
   
  3. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, July 10, 2010) Object name changed from "Pendant: human and dragon" to "Jewelry"; Title changed from "Pendant (pei 珮): human and dragon" to "Pendant (pei 珮) in the form of a human and  dragon."

  4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, January 3, 2020) Title changed from "Pendant (pei) in the form of a human and dragon" to "Finial in the form of a human hybrid with dragon"; Date changed from "ca. 10th-9th century BCE" to "ca. 1050-ca. 950 BCE"; added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang; added Label Text from the exhibition, In Praise of Ancestors by Thomas Lawton; added Unpublished Research by Jenny F. So; and changed Object name from "Pendant" to "Jewelry".  

  Added the following to the Description field, "Part of the representation is incised within the contour. The main motif is the deity with the big nose and with a protecting tiger on its head facing in the opposite direction. The indentations and the relatively rich geometrical treatment of the object make it possible to attribute it to either early or late Western Zhou. (Deposits, minor calcification; one tiny nick in edge.)"

Draft catalogue entry for S1987.481; by Jenny F. So (2003)
Dragon-man fitting or finial
Middle Western Zhou 周 period, 1000--900 BCE
North China, middle to lower Yellow river valley
Nephrite, semi-translucent pale green with light brown discoloration
Height 8.22 cm; width 4.43 cm; 0.33-0.52 cm thick

This finial echoes the curved shape of the Shang 商 examples (S1987.532, S1987.519, S1987.518, and S1987.860), tapering slightly toward the tang at the bottom. The outline is broken by low notches except for the upturned tail of the small dragon at the top. Bracketed by the curve of the dragon's body is the head of a humanoid figure, his eyes, profile nose, and broad mouth clearly described with incised lines. The remaining features of this figure are less distinct; what might be his arms, body, and legs appear as a series of swirling beveled incisions that fill the rest of the curved surface. The same design covers both faces of the jade. The execution is confident and fluent, and the polish is smooth and lustrous. Two holes pierce the jade: one near the top, just behind the figure's head, and the other below, just above the tab.

In spite of the intrusion of the bird-man motif that seemed to have captured the Zhou 周's attention, the Shang 商 dragon-man combination clearly continued to flourish alongside the newer motif. By the tenth century BCE, both motifs were so well established that they seemed to have been freely combined to form some of the most complex and elegant designs that became a hallmark of Western Zhou 周 jade workmanship. The simple incised lines on the earlier Western Zhou 周 examples (S1987.882 and S1987.480) gained greater subtlety with the use of the beveled incised lines here, as the slanted angle of the broad incisions catch and reflect light with greater variety. This, too, became the hallmark of the best Western Zhou 周 jade workmanship. The inventiveness of the Western Zhou 周 jade masters appears in the variety evident on jades from tenth and ninth century BCE burials.

Published: Alfred Salmony, Carved Jades of Ancient China (Berkeley, CA: Gillick Press, 1938), pl. 29:5; Deng Shuping 鄧淑蘋, "Yizhen jijin 2: 'Ren' wen guyu 遺珍集錦2: '人'紋古玉," Gugong wenwu yuekan 故宮文物月刊 The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art 89 (1990), fig. 26a-b.

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