Object: Pendant in the form of a fish, reworked from a collared disk S1987.573

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

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

Object Date: ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite) imported from the northeast

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 7.3 × 3.6 × 1 cm (2 7/8 × 1 7/16 × 3/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.573

: 魚形飾，似由有領璧後期加工而成
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高3.6、寬7.3、厚1釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.573

Provenance: As early as 1928
Reportedly discovered at archeological sites in Anyang, Honan Province, China [1]

To 1948
Zhang Naiji (1899–1948), Shanghai, China then New York, NY [2]

1948 to 1954
Zhang Mei Chien, New York, NY inherited upon her husband’s death [3]

1954 to 1963
J. T. Tai & Company, New York, NY purchased from Zhang Mei Chien in July 1954 in New York, NY [4]

1963 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from J. T. Tai & Company, New York, NY on 15 May 1963 in New York, NY [5]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [6]

Notes:

[1] Object published in Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition (Philadelphia: The University Museum, February 1940), cat. 66. Catalogue entry notes discovery site. Excavations at Anyang began in 1928.

[2] Zhang lent his collection anonymously to Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition (1940). We know his identity through letters housed in the Department of Archives, The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (see: letter, C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 25 October 1939 and letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 16 December 1939, copies in FǀS COM provenance files). The exhibition was entirely organized by C. T. Loo & Company, New York. Letters exchanged between C. T. Loo and the director of The University Museum, Mr. Horace H.F. Jayne, reveal that Zhang Naiji owned the objects and C. T. Loo & Company had the collection on consignment (see: letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 28 May 1939 and letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 23 October 1940, copies on COM provenance files). C. T. Loo & Company kept the jade collection on consignment from 1940 through Zhang’s death in 1948, inventorying the pieces with a prefix “J” and labeling each item as “Chang Collection.”

[3] Zhang Mei Chien, Zhang Naiji’s wife, assumed ownership upon his death in 1948. She sold several pieces from her husband’s collection to J. T. Tai & Company in July 1954 (for example, see J. T. Tai & Company Stock Record YT 886 and YT 895, copies in COM provenance files).

[4] J. T. Tai’s stock no. YT-989, see invoice from J. T. Tai addressed to Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, dated X/15/63, a copy located in object file.

[5] See note 4.

[6] 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): Zhang Naiji 張乃驥 (1899-1948)
Zhang Mei Chien (1900-1998)
J. T. Tai & Co. (established in 1950)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Curved fish pendant; carved details; horizontal flange on inside curve; pierced; translucent green. (Slight calcification.)

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, S1987.633, S1987.472, S1987.475, and S1987.461)

Fish Pendant (Yu Pei 魚珮)
11th century BCE
Shang 商 dynasty
China
Jade

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

Cong tube, Pendants (Circular dragon and Fish), and Finials in the form of a bird
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade, made from nephrite imported from the northeast
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.466, S1987.606, S1987.583, S1987.573, S1987.532, and S1987.640

Ritual wine warmer (fangjia) with masks
(taotie), dragons, birds, and cicadas
Inscribed on interior, Xiang Gu 鄉賈 (“Conductor of Trade”)
Middle Anyang period, ca. 1150 BCE
Bronze
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1935.12a–b

Traders
The inscription on this magnificent rectangular wine vessel names a royal broker responsible for securing both raw materials and finished goods. In oracle bone texts,
the king’s “Many Traders” (Duo gu 多賈) are known for obtaining a multitude of precious things, including turtle shells for divination, horses for chariots, and cowrie
shells. The bright green jades seen here are also imports, fashioned from a special nephrite found in modern Liaoning province hundreds of miles northeast of Anyang.
Cowrie shells, which were so deeply valued at Anyang that they were given by the king to his officers as a reward, came from even farther away—the Indian Ocean.

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, July 27, 2017) Title changed from "Pendant (yu pei) in the form of a fish to "Pendant in the form of a fish, probably reworked from a flanged bracelet or collared disk"; object name changed from "jewelry" to "pendant"; period one changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period two added "Anyang period"; date changed from "ca. 11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; medium changed from "jade" to "jade (nephrite); added Chinese object caption by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the description field, "Curved fish pendant; carved details; horizontal flange on inside curve; pierced; translucent green. (Slight calcification.)"; and added past label text by Thomas Lawton.
4. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 21, 2023)
Change title from "Pendant in the form of a fish, probably reworked from a flanged bracelet or collared disk" to "Pendant in the form of a fish, reworked from a collared disk."
Change title from "魚形飾，似由凸緣鐲或有領璧後期加工而成" to "魚形飾，似由有領璧後期加工而成".
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1250- ca. 1050 BCE."
Change date from "公元前1300-1050年" to "公元前1250-1050年" in the translation field.
Change medium from "Jade (nephrite)" to "Jade (nephrite) imported from the northeast."

Published References

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

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Pendant in the form of a fish, reworked from a collared disk

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