Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE
Object Date
ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimension(s)
H x W x D: 4.5 x 3.3 x 0.6 cm (1 3/4 x 1 5/16 x 1/4 in)
Origin
China, probably Henan province, Anyang
Credit Line
The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Arthur M. Sackler
1. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, May 3, 2018) Title changed from "Plaque with two dragon heads" to "Pendant in the form of two dragons"; period one changed from "Late Shang or early Western Zhou dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period changed from "Late Anyang period" to "Anyang period"; date changed from "ca. 1100-1000 BCE" to "ca. 1300-1050 BCE"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; medium changed from "jade" to "jade (nephrite); object name changed from "plaque" to "pendant"; added Chinese object caption by Jingmin Zhang; and added unpublished research by Louisa Fitzerald Huber.
Unpublished Research
Draft catalogue entry (no. 136) for S2012.9.339 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber Asymmetrical Plaque Shaped as Two Dragon Heads Shang 商- Western Zhou 周 dynasty, 13th--11th century BCE Jade Length 4.7 cm (1 7/8 in)
The plaque is composed of two dragon heads facing in opposite directions, one somewhat larger than the other. Each has a mouth fashioned as a curved slot, a pointed nose, and an angular jaw bordered by an incised line ending in a curl. The larger head exhibits a big eye with a long, upper canthus; the other head has an oval eye. The bayonet-like hooks at the ends of the dragons' horns seem to slice through the air one above the other in menacing fashion. Only the smaller head is provided with some indication of a body, which apparently includes a shoulder, marked by a squared spiral in double lines, a foreleg, and a paw. There are three perforations, one through each dragon's lower jaw and a third through the horn of the smaller head. The gray-green stone is partially whitened and opaque.
Published References
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
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