Period:Shang dynasty Production date:15thC BC-10thC BC
Materials:jade
Technique:carved, incised, polished,
Subjects:dragon
Dimensions:Height: 3.50 centimetres Length: 7.60 centimetres
Description:
Dragon pendant of translucent green jade with creamy areas and some earth encrustation polished to a soft finish. The flat incised dragon has a prominent snout, open mouth, large rectangular eye and bottlehorn. The hunched-up back follows through to a curled tail and well-defined hind leg. Both sides are similarly decorated. There are two small bi-conical perforations, one through the open mouth and the other the curled tail.
IMG
![图片[1]-pendant BM-2022-3034.118-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Shang dynasty/Jades/97_.jpg)
Comments:This creature is worked from a relatively flat slice of jade and is shown crouching, head facing forwards, crowned by a large bottle horn. Below the horn is an incised oval eye. The creature’s back rises in a hump behind the horn and is then pulled down into a narrow tail coiled around on itself. Two legs are indicated with incised lines. Both sides are decorated in the same way. There are two small holes drilled from both sides, one at the mouth and the other within the tail. This flat plaque represents a further and absolutely typical stage of development. Although carvers at the time of Fu Hao were creating many three-dimensional creatures, even at that date, and certainly later, many jade animal pendants were rendered as flat plaques. These much flatter dragons are often shown crouching, somewhat like felines. Crouching animals seem to imply a creature that can move about the world in the way that a tiger might. The present dragon is typical of the late Shang period and can be compared with jades from Anyang Dasikongcun and from the western sector at Yinxu. See Rawson 1995, p. 213; cat.no.12.07.
Materials:jade
Technique:carved, incised, polished,
Subjects:dragon
Dimensions:Height: 3.50 centimetres Length: 7.60 centimetres
Description:
Dragon pendant of translucent green jade with creamy areas and some earth encrustation polished to a soft finish. The flat incised dragon has a prominent snout, open mouth, large rectangular eye and bottlehorn. The hunched-up back follows through to a curled tail and well-defined hind leg. Both sides are similarly decorated. There are two small bi-conical perforations, one through the open mouth and the other the curled tail.
IMG
Comments:This creature is worked from a relatively flat slice of jade and is shown crouching, head facing forwards, crowned by a large bottle horn. Below the horn is an incised oval eye. The creature’s back rises in a hump behind the horn and is then pulled down into a narrow tail coiled around on itself. Two legs are indicated with incised lines. Both sides are decorated in the same way. There are two small holes drilled from both sides, one at the mouth and the other within the tail. This flat plaque represents a further and absolutely typical stage of development. Although carvers at the time of Fu Hao were creating many three-dimensional creatures, even at that date, and certainly later, many jade animal pendants were rendered as flat plaques. These much flatter dragons are often shown crouching, somewhat like felines. Crouching animals seem to imply a creature that can move about the world in the way that a tiger might. The present dragon is typical of the late Shang period and can be compared with jades from Anyang Dasikongcun and from the western sector at Yinxu. See Rawson 1995, p. 213; cat.no.12.07.
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