Finial in the form of a bird

• 1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 24, 2008) Jewelry and Ornament added as secondary classification.

  2. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 1, 17) Title changed from "Ring, fragment, reworked to make a finial in the form of a bird" to "Fitting in the form of a bird"; period two changed from "late Anyang period" to "Anyang period"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; date changed from "ca. 1150-1050 BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca.1050 BCE"; and medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)".

  3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, July 24, 2018) Title changed from "Fitting in the form of a bird" to "Finial in the form of a bird"; and added Chinese translation and unpublished research.

Draft catalogue entry (no. 127) for S2012.9.320 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--90); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber

Bird Figure
Shang 商 dynasty, 12th century BCE
Jade
H 5.7 cm (2 1/4 in)
 
This bird figure, fashioned from the segment of a disk, differs from comparable examples recovered from Tomb 5 at Xiaotun 小屯 by its more orderly and trimmed appearance, which owes chiefly to its relatively unarticulated silhouette and the more tightly organized leiwen 雷紋 that decorate its body. [1] The series of fine, hairlike lines that fill the area of its crest and the densely placed chevrons on its tail, as well as the small, simplified ear and the addition of an eyebrow formed as a crescent shaped groove, are further indications of the figure's comparative lateness in regard to the Tomb 5 pieces. The more complete realization of this evolving style of jade decoration may be seen in a second bird figure (S2012.9.323) made from the segment of a larger disk. The jade is translucent olive green. 
 
Published: Animal Forms: Animal Forms in Chinese Art (New York: Staten Island Museum, 1962), cat. 19; Max Loehr, Relics of  Ancient China, from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer (New York: Asia Society, 1965), cat. 33.

[1] Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo 中國社會科學院考古研究所, Yinxu Fu Hao mu 殷墟婦好墓 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1980), pls. 142--43; Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo 中國社會科學院考古研究所, Yinxu yuqi 殷墟玉器 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1982), figs. 57--58.

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