LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG PERIOD, CIRCA 1200 BC

This insignia/finial is similar to two tiger-form pendants from the c.1200 BC tomb of the Shang queen, Fu Hao, at Anyang, illustrated in Yinxu Yuqi (The Jades from Yinxu), Beijing, 1982, pl. 89 (top and middle). Unlike the present ornament, neither of the excavated examples has the small tab extending from the edge of the coiled tail. Another similar jade tiger-form ornament, dated c. 1200-1000 BC, in the British Museum, is illustrated by J. Rawson, Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, London, 1995, p. 214, fig. 1 (middle). On this ornament the beveled tab appears to form the tail. See, also, the similar green jade example of smaller size (2½ in.), with a tab projecting from the side of the curled tail, in the Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Cologne, illustrated by A. Salmony, Carved Jade of Ancient China, Berkeley, 1938, pl. XIV (3).