Period:Shang dynasty Production date:15thC BC-10thC BC
Materials:jade
Technique:carved, incised,
Subjects:crocodile (crocodile)
Dimensions:Length: 13.20 centimetres Width: 2.60 centimetres
Description:
Crocodile of yellow jade with brown inclusions. This flattened figure of a crocodile carved with serrated edges, the upper surface incised with an abstract crocodile head. The body is carved to simulate scales; protruding from the mouth is a small tabular extension with a perforation.
IMG
![图片[1]-figure BM-2022-3034.116-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Shang dynasty/Jades/79_.jpg)
Comments:Shang type but possibly late Western Zhou period. This creature displays an interesting combination of the two contrasting methods of carving – the use of notches and realistic carving in low relief. The reptile is fairly realistic, with a rounded head, an oval body, four rather small limbs and a very long tail. This basic form is embellished by the addition of small notches along the body to suggest scales and double notches on the tail. The surface is closely worked to create scales, and the creature has two slightly squared, oval eyes. The underside is very slightly rounded. There is a small loop at the front of the head instead of the usual hole. Such loops are very rare, but not completely unknown. The combination of two methods of carving would suggest that either the piece is not a product of Anyang, or that it is a later jade whose carver was not familiar with the conventions of Shang jade workshops. Indeed the jade can be compared with a snake embellished with scales from the eighth-century BC tombs of the Guo state of Henan Sanmenxia. These tombs contain both eighth-century jades carved at the time of the burials and much earlier pieces, which were evidently heirlooms. It is possible that the snake and the present reptile were carved in the eighth century to match pieces in more ancient styles. See Rawson 1995, p.224, cat.no.12.22.
Materials:jade
Technique:carved, incised,
Subjects:crocodile (crocodile)
Dimensions:Length: 13.20 centimetres Width: 2.60 centimetres
Description:
Crocodile of yellow jade with brown inclusions. This flattened figure of a crocodile carved with serrated edges, the upper surface incised with an abstract crocodile head. The body is carved to simulate scales; protruding from the mouth is a small tabular extension with a perforation.
IMG
Comments:Shang type but possibly late Western Zhou period. This creature displays an interesting combination of the two contrasting methods of carving – the use of notches and realistic carving in low relief. The reptile is fairly realistic, with a rounded head, an oval body, four rather small limbs and a very long tail. This basic form is embellished by the addition of small notches along the body to suggest scales and double notches on the tail. The surface is closely worked to create scales, and the creature has two slightly squared, oval eyes. The underside is very slightly rounded. There is a small loop at the front of the head instead of the usual hole. Such loops are very rare, but not completely unknown. The combination of two methods of carving would suggest that either the piece is not a product of Anyang, or that it is a later jade whose carver was not familiar with the conventions of Shang jade workshops. Indeed the jade can be compared with a snake embellished with scales from the eighth-century BC tombs of the Guo state of Henan Sanmenxia. These tombs contain both eighth-century jades carved at the time of the burials and much earlier pieces, which were evidently heirlooms. It is possible that the snake and the present reptile were carved in the eighth century to match pieces in more ancient styles. See Rawson 1995, p.224, cat.no.12.22.
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![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
