Object: Pendant in the form of a dragon, probably reworked from a tube (cong 琮) S2012.9.355

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: 3.2 × 2 × 0.9 cm (1 1/4 × 13/16 × 3/8 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: S2012.9.355

: 龍形飾
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高3.6、寬2、厚0.9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：S2012.9.355

Past label text: 1. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Fitting in the form of a mask (taotie); Pendants:
Face and Dragon, recycled from Neolithic objects
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
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 S2012.9.165, S2012.9.319, and S2012.9.355

Pendants: Mask (taotie),
Dragon, and Birds, recycled
from Neolithic objects
Anyang period,
ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.865, S1987.550, S1987.549, S1987.879, and S1987.861

Recycling
Since jade was a valuable commodity, broken or outof-fashion articles were not discarded but were instead recycled to make new objects. Most of the Anyang jades shown at the bottom of this case were made by cutting up a special kind of Neolithic square tube called a cong, which had lost its ritual significance in Shang times.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, May 3, 2018) Period one changed from "Late Shang dynasty or early Western Zhou dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period two changed from "late Anyang period" to "Anyang period"; date changed from "ca. 1100-1000 BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)"; added Chinese object caption by Jingmin Zhang; and added unpublished research by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber.
2. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 22, 2023)
Change title from "Pendant in the form of a dragon" to "Pendant in the form of a dragon, probably reworked from a tube (cong 琮)."
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1250-ca. 1050 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 (neprhite)" to "Jade (neprhite) imported from the northeast."

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 146) for S2012.9.339 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber
Dragon
Shang 商 --Western Zhou 周 dynasty, 12th--10th century BCE
Jade
Length 3.4 cm (1 5/16 in)

The dragon is fashioned from a curved piece of jade in such a way that the sides are partly visible when the figure is viewed en face, and the effect is therefore stereoscopic. The creature's finely shaped eye, surrounded by a shadow created by beveled depressions, accords with the large, angular spiral high on the back that is oriented on an opposing diagonal. The head--which is further described by a graceful bottle horn, a nose shaped as a perforated curlicue, and by a slightly open mouth--rests gently on a single paw. Stretched out behind, the tail turns sharply upward and curls to encompass an approximately circular perforation. An additional irregularly shaped cutout separates the jaw from the body and leg. The design is completed by a hooked crest projecting from behind the head. The stone is gray green with a light brown streak running vertically across the front of the dragon's face. The reverse is plain and its surface is concave.

Published: China Institute in America, Art Styles of Ancient Shang, from Private and Museum Collections (New York: China Institute, 1967), cat. 61.

Published References

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

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Pendant in the form of a dragon, probably reworked from a tube (cong 琮)

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