THREE SMALL GREYISH-GREEN JADE BIRD PENDANTS

LATE SHANG/EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 12TH/10TH CENTURY BC

Details

THREE SMALL GREYISH-GREEN JADE BIRD PENDANTS
LATE SHANG/EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 12TH/10TH CENTURY BC
One detailed in thread relief with small head, scrolled wings, feet and parallel lines for the tail feathers rising to a bifurcated edge, with a small loop at the base of the neck; the largest with elongated body carved in grooved detail with hooked beak, circular eyes, long crest and upswept wings above an incised fin-like area, and a notched tail, with a tiny hole in the breast; the third with compact body also detailed in grooved lines and pierced through the breast, all of translucent grey-green stone with extensive opaque buff alteration
1 1/8, 2 7/8 and 1 7/8 in. (2.8, 7.3 and 4.8 cm.) long (3)

Provenance

Acquired in October 1974.

Lot Essay

The largest of these three bird pendants is of the type that Jessica Rawson describes as becoming more widespread in the Western Zhou period. See, J. Rawson, Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 227, fig. 1. The author goes on to note that during this period the tail became more horizontal and looks more like a 'fish' tail, which is true of the present pendant. The small bird with the compact body and long crest shares similarities to another illustrated by A. Salmony, Archaic Chinese Jades from the Edward and Louise B. Sonnenschein Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1952, pl. XLIX (5). The most unusual of the three is the bird with small raised head and upturned tail partially detailed in thread relief, a style of carving more often seen in jades of late Shang date.

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