LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG PERIOD, CIRCA 1200 BC

Marble vessels of the Shang dynasty appear to be divided between those that were were based on the bronze forms of the period and those that relate more to the simpler forms of the pottery vessels of the period. A white marble fangyi and cover with notched flanges carved at the corners and in the center of each side in the British Museum is obviously based on bronze prototypes. See S.H. Hansford, Chinese Jade Carving, London, 1950, pl. XVIII (a). The simplicity of form of the present jar and cover, however, relates to the pottery vessels of the period, such as a group of grey pottery vessels of Shang date in the collection of Dr. Paul Singer, included in the exhibition, Relics of Ancient China, New York, Asia House Gallery, 1965, p. 40, nos. 15, 44, 16 and 45. Also illustrated are two white marble vessels of simple form, a goblet and a jar, p. 47, nos. 22 and 21 respectively. As with the present jar, the Singer ovoid jar has carved grooved lines at the shoulder and appears to have similar patches of degradation of the marble.