Two Mottled Opaque Jade Fish Pendants

SHANG/EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, CIRCA 1200-1000 BC

Details

Two Mottled Opaque Jade Fish Pendants
Shang/early Western Zhou dynasty, circa 1200-1000 BC
Carved from the same block of stone, each with elongated, thick body tapering towards the upper and lower edges and incised with circular eyes, curved gills, and dorsal and pelvic fins, each with fine bullnose perforation through the flat mouth, the stone now of mottled greyish-olive and dark grey color
5 5/16 and 5 3/16in. (13.5 and 13.2cm.) long, box and stands
Falk Collection no. 507. (2)

Provenance

Alfred Schoenlicht, Esq.
John Sparks, London 1956.

Literature

H.F.E. Visser, Asiatic Art, Amsterdam, 1948, p. 196-7, pl. 58, no. 103.

Exhibited

International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935-6, no. 374.
On loan: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, (pre-1956).
Neolithic to Ming, Chinese Objects - The Myron S. Falk Collection, Northampton, Massachusetts, Smith College Museum of Art, 1957, no. 5.
Chinese Jade, Philadelphia, University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 1963, no. 144.
Selections of Chinese Art from Private Collections, New York, China House Gallery, China Institute in America, 1986, no. 12.

Lot Essay

Based on the similarity of the stone, one can deduce that these two fish were carved from the same block of stone and would have been found in the same tomb. They are also unusual in that unlike most fish pendants, they are not flat, but carved in the round. Although the details are simply delineated, they are precise and expert in their execution. Several comparable fish, also carved in the round, and with elongated bodies, in the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, are illustrated by M. Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades, Cambridge, 1975, nos. 276-8 and no. 279.

More from THE FALK COLLECTION I: FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART

View All