Object: Pendant in the form a mask S2012.9.305

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): 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

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S2012.9.305

: 獸面形飾
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高4、寬3.7、厚0.2釐米
史密森博物學院亞瑟·M·賽克勒美術館保羅·辛格中國藝術收藏品；亞瑟·M·賽克勒基金會，保羅·辛格，AMS基金會，及亞瑟·M·賽克勒子女聯合贈送
器物編號：S2012.9.305

Curatorial Remarks

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(nephrite)"; object name changed from "plaque" to "pendant"; added Chinese object caption by Jingmin Zhang; and added unpublished research by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber.

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 116) for S2012.9.305 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber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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Pendant in the form a mask

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