Period:Eastern Zhou dynasty Production date:6thC BC-5thC BC (circa)
Materials:jade, nephrite,
Technique:engraved, perforated,
Subjects:dragon
Dimensions:Length: 3.50 centimetres
Description:
Two plaques. Decorated with interlaced dragon head motif, hooks and spirals. The plaques are thin and and perforated in the four corners. They were probably part of a burial veil or jade suit. Made of jade.
IMG
![图片[1]-plaque BM-1935-0115.9-10-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Eastern Zhou dynasty/Jades/mid_00134920_001.jpg)
Comments:Rawson 1995:From the Neolithic period jades were from time to time used with such profusion in burials that they effectively covered the body as, for example, at the site of Jiangsu Wujin Sidun of the Liangzhu culture. It is possible, indeed almost certain, that these quantities of jade were not simply displays of the wealth and status of their owners. The beauty of the stone and above all its durability perhaps gave it other significances, possibly protective ones. We do not know whether similar ideas were in the minds of the Shang when they carved and wore small animal-shaped jade pendants. The large numbers found in Fu Hao’s tomb suggest that she must literally have been covered with them. There was, however, a considerable difference between profusion of jade items of different shapes and carved sections of jade made explicitly to cover the body. Such explicit coverings for the head and body had their formal beginnings in the middle Western Zhou dynasty. Tomb 157, which belonged to a member of the Jing Shu family, and tomb 303 at Shaanxi Chang’an Fengxi have yielded jades that covered the features of the face: eyes, brows, nose and teeth. These jades, which were intended only for mortuary use, may have been one of the products of the ritual changes of the ninth century BC.These jade head coverings, which may have been sewn on to a textile forming some sort of veil, were direct ancestors of the much more complete assemblages of jades used to cover the body, found at Qucun near Tianma in Shanxi province. The face coverings here were accompanied by numerous necklaces and pendants arrayed all over the upper part of the body.The next stage was the use of large numbers of thin, and often decorated, plaques, such as those found in the Huang tombs of the seventh century BC at Henan Guangshan Baoxiangsi. These plaques usually have small holes at the corners so that they can be sewn on to textiles. Indeed, such jades were often made by cutting and existing jade in half. See also BM 1945,1017.11-12 and BM 1945,1017.152-153.
Materials:jade, nephrite,
Technique:engraved, perforated,
Subjects:dragon
Dimensions:Length: 3.50 centimetres
Description:
Two plaques. Decorated with interlaced dragon head motif, hooks and spirals. The plaques are thin and and perforated in the four corners. They were probably part of a burial veil or jade suit. Made of jade.
IMG
Comments:Rawson 1995:From the Neolithic period jades were from time to time used with such profusion in burials that they effectively covered the body as, for example, at the site of Jiangsu Wujin Sidun of the Liangzhu culture. It is possible, indeed almost certain, that these quantities of jade were not simply displays of the wealth and status of their owners. The beauty of the stone and above all its durability perhaps gave it other significances, possibly protective ones. We do not know whether similar ideas were in the minds of the Shang when they carved and wore small animal-shaped jade pendants. The large numbers found in Fu Hao’s tomb suggest that she must literally have been covered with them. There was, however, a considerable difference between profusion of jade items of different shapes and carved sections of jade made explicitly to cover the body. Such explicit coverings for the head and body had their formal beginnings in the middle Western Zhou dynasty. Tomb 157, which belonged to a member of the Jing Shu family, and tomb 303 at Shaanxi Chang’an Fengxi have yielded jades that covered the features of the face: eyes, brows, nose and teeth. These jades, which were intended only for mortuary use, may have been one of the products of the ritual changes of the ninth century BC.These jade head coverings, which may have been sewn on to a textile forming some sort of veil, were direct ancestors of the much more complete assemblages of jades used to cover the body, found at Qucun near Tianma in Shanxi province. The face coverings here were accompanied by numerous necklaces and pendants arrayed all over the upper part of the body.The next stage was the use of large numbers of thin, and often decorated, plaques, such as those found in the Huang tombs of the seventh century BC at Henan Guangshan Baoxiangsi. These plaques usually have small holes at the corners so that they can be sewn on to textiles. Indeed, such jades were often made by cutting and existing jade in half. See also BM 1945,1017.11-12 and BM 1945,1017.152-153.
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