Object: Pendant in the form of a coiled dragon S1987.606

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: 3.1 × 2.6 × 1.4 cm (1 1/4 × 1 × 9/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.606

: 盤龍飾
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高3.1、寬2.6、厚1.4釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號: S1987.606

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

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

1948 to 1954
Zhang Mei Chien (1901–c.1955), 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, NY purchased from J. T. Tai & Company on May 15, 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. 215. Catalogue entry notes discovery site. Excavations at Anyang began in 1928.

[2] Zhang Naiji (also known as N.C. Chang) was a businessman, born to a prestigious family in Zhejiang that made their wealth in the silk and salt industries. He collected ancient Chinese art objects and Chinese coins. Zhang amassed his collection whilst living in Shanghai, before leaving for America in 1938, and acquired his objects onsite of archeological excavations (see: Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade through the Wei Dynasty. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1963: 115.).

Zhang lent his collection anonymously to Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition. 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] See invoice from J. T. Tai addressed to Dr. M. Sackler, dated 5/15/63, stock no. YT-1092, information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009, a copy located in object file.

[5] See note 5.

[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): C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)
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: Animal, curled into a ring; open center; carved detail; translucent green-white. (Flaw-cracks; minor nicks.)

Past label text: 1. In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.597 and S1987.583; additional Shang notched disks and axes shown in same case)

Pendant (Pei 珮)
13th–11th centuries 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: dragon" to "Jewelry." Title changed from "Pendant (pei 珮): dragon" to "Pendant (pei 珮) in the form of a dragon."

3. (Daisy Yiyou Wang 王依悠, June 4, 2012) Janet Douglas and I examined this piece together in storage. From the side, one can see the tapering of the back of the dragon from the head to its body, then the slight swelling toward the tail, which recalls S2012.9.232. There is a groove running from the head to tail along the central axis of the spine. The hole is drilled from two sides at an angle. The dragon has oblong eyes and ears with two spirals on each.

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, May 2, 2018) Title changed from "Pendant (pei) in the form of a dragon" to "Pendant in the form of a coiled dragon"; period one changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period two added "Anyang period"; medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite); object name changed from "Jewelry" to "pendant"; added Chinese object caption by Jingmin under Translation text entry field; added the following description "Animal, curled into a ring; open center; carved detail; translucent green-white. (Flaw-cracks; minor nicks.)"; and added past label text by Thomas Lawton; changed geography from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang".
5. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 21, 2023)
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1150 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. .

SI Usage Statement

Usage conditions apply

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..

Save this image | Request Permission | Terms of use

Pendant in the form of a coiled dragon

Related Objects

Web Resources