A SMALL GRAYISH-GREEN JADE DRAGON/BIRD PENDANT

Details
A SMALL GRAYISH-GREEN JADE DRAGON/BIRD PENDANT
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG PERIOD, CA. 1300-1100 B.C.

The flat plaque cut out in the form of a bird with a dragon's head, the body with upswept wings and an angular coiled tail above large taloned feet, the head turned backwards with small mouth open, with lozenge-shaped eyes and an angular ear pierced with a biconical hole, another large hole drilled from one side behind the head, the gray-green stone softly polished and with cloudy opaque mottling, with faint traces of cinnabar--1 11/16in. (4.2cm.) across
Provenance
A. W. Bahr Collection, Weybridge

Lot Essay

This flat pendant forms the design of an upright bird with reverted dragon head emerging at the back of the bird's body. This is an unusual design for such a combination of motifs. The wings of the bird are upturned and the tail feathers are read at the back and base of the jade. The dragon head is typically Shang in definition due to the features of open mouth with snout, lozenge-shaped eyes and curling ear. Comparison may be made with jades representing dragons and birds from the Fu Hao tomb, Yinxu Fu Hao mu, Beijing, fig. 83:1, 2, 5, p. 158 and with jades showing a combined composition of bird and dragon, Yinxu Yuqi (The Jades from Yinxu), Beijing, 1982, pl. 46