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 (overall): 4 x 3.7 x 0.2 cm (1 9/16 x 1 7/16 x 1/16 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 10, 2018) Title changed from "Plaque with taotie" to "Pendant in the form of a mask"; 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(nephrite)"; object name changed from "plaque" to "pendant"; added Chinese object caption by Jingmin Zhang; and added unpublished research by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber.
Unpublished Research
Draft catalogue entry (no. 116) for S2012.9.305 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber Animal head Plaque Shang 商 dynasty, 13th--11th century BCE Jade Height 4 cm (1 9/16 in)
The thin, flat piece of translucent, grayish-blue stone is designed as an animal head, the features of which are described in double incised lines slightly beveled on each side to produce a relief effect. Above the large eyes are a pair of horns, which curve inward toward a freestanding, upright spur decorated with chevrons. The nostrils, lowermost, are shown as a pair of squarish shapes; the lines issuing from either side of them indicate the upper jaw. A small hole perforates the plaque between the nostrils. A comparable plaque was uncovered from a late Anyang 安陽 site at Xiaotun 小屯. [1]
[1] Zhongguo kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Anyang fajuedui 中國科學院考古研究所安陽發掘隊, "1975 nian Anyang Yinxu de xin faxian 1975年安陽殷墟的新發現," Kaogu 考古 1976.4, p. 269, fig. 11: 5, pl. 8: 11.
Published References
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
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