Object: Pendant in the form of a human head, probably reworked from a bracelet S2012.9.319

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)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 5 × 2.1 × 0.6 cm (2 × 13/16 × 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

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S2012.9.319

: 人首形飾，似由鐲後期加工而成
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高5、寬2.1、厚0.6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: S2012.9.319

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. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 29, 2008) Jewelry and Ornament added as secondary classification.

2. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, May 8, 2018) Title changed from "Ring or tube (cong), fragment, reworked to make a knife with a pierced handle in the form of a human silhouette" to "Pendant in the form of a human head, probably reworked from a bracelet"; changed object name from "Ring" to "Pendant"; period one changed from "Possibly late Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; 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 Max Loehr.
3. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 22, 2023)
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.

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 126) for S2012.9.319 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Max Loehr
Curved Piece with Human Silhouette
Shang 商 dynasty, ca. 1200--1050 BCE
Jade
Height 4.8 cm (1 7/8 in)

The object appears to have been fashioned from a broken disk. Above the large nose are four notches and a lug. The eyes are round and without lids; the almost human mouth lacks a chin. The lower end of the translucent, pale green jade with cream-colored spots has been sharpened.

Published: An Exhibition of Chinese Archaic Jades. Arranged for the Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida (New York: C. T. Loo, 1950), pl. 22: 11; Doris J. Dohrenwend, "Jade Demonic Images from Early China," Ars Orientalis 10 (1975), fig. 19.

Published References

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

SI Usage Statement

Usage conditions apply

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..

Save this image | Request Permission | Terms of use

Pendant in the form of a human head, probably reworked from a bracelet

Related Objects

Web Resources