Object: Pendant in the form of a tiger S1987.553

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

: 虎形飾
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高1.2、寬5.7、厚1.6釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.553

Provenance: To 1964
Frank Caro Chinese Art, New York, NY [1]

1964 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY purchased in New York City from Frank Caro Chinese Art on August 27, 1964 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] F. Caro stock number FC 2404: “Archaic jade pendant, reclining tiger, curled tail, greyish translucent jade. Pelliot cat. #. (Lt: 2 – ½ ins),” see invoice from Frank Caro Chinese Art to Arthur M. Sackler, August 27, 1964, copy in object file. Caro’s invoice and object description mention’s a catalogue by Paul Pelliot, however, this object does not appear in any of Paul Pelliot’s catalogues.

[2] See note 1.

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

Previous owner(s): Frank Caro Chinese Art (1962-1980)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Pendant; crouching animal; looped tail; pierced jaw; translucent gray with brown stains. (Some calcification; flaw-cracks, old nicks, chips; deposits.)

Past label text: 1. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

The Royal Hunt
These late Anyang-period wine containers with matching inscriptions name an “Officer of the Hounds” in charge of one of the king’s hunting grounds and may have been commissioned and used by the same individual. Oracle bone inscriptions tell us these officers were responsible for assisting with the king’s
hunts. Royal hunts involved chariots but not always successfully.One famous divination recounts the toppling of the king’s chariot by another officer during the pursuit of wild buffalo. Along with other unsurprising quarry like deer and boar, the king’s hunt also sometimes included elephants and tigers. The hunt probably involved bow and arrow—in Shang writing, there are depictions of tigers with arrows in their heads—and perhaps this mysterious pointed weapon or tool with a hook; maybe part of a whip, it is sometimes found with chariotry equipment in elite tombs.

Pendants in the form of a tiger
Anyang period,
ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.705 and S1987.553

Curatorial Remarks

Published References

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Pendant in the form of a tiger