LATE SHANG-EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 12TH-10TH CENTURY BC

‌Based on the similarity of the stone, one can deduce that these two fish were carved from the same block of stone and are 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, in Ancient Chinese Jades, Cambridge,1975, nos. 276-8 and no. 279.