WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY (c. 1100-771 BC)

The present bird finial is closely related to an earlier Shang-dynasty flattened bird finial in the British Museum, illustrated by Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 11:3, pp. 203-204. Both the British Museum example and the present finial share a similar profile and the unusual design of upturned plumes on the backs of the birds. However, the British Museum example is much flatter and detailed with fine ridging, whereas the present finial has a fuller three-dimensional presence with details incised with double grooves that are characteristic of the Western Zhou period.