Fish pendant

The same representation of a fish has been carved on both faces of this semi-translucent green jade stone. The fish is shallowly incised with two sets of curved lines that extend horizontally back from the head toward a cloven tail. The dorsal fins are divided into four sections, each with a wider and a narrower notch. The caudal fins are separated into two sets of short, parallel lines. One perforation was drilled from two sides at the eye.

Fish pendants proliferated among the Shang and the Western Zhou inhabitants of the Central Plains and the northwest (Zgyqqj 1993, vol. 2, plates 96, 115, 128). They became standardized in simple forms with a straight or curved body, the fins incised with short vertical strokes. The outer contour of the fish is simple and streamlined; only after the Spring and Autumn Period did a few notches appear on the edges to accent the depiction of the mouth and the lower jaw (Zgyqqj 1993, vol. 2, plates 8–9).

With a few circular exceptions, Shang and Zhou fish had no horizontal lines along the length of the body. One hole was drilled at the head, and one or two at the tail. The diadem-shaped design of the dorsal fins and the horizontal lines in this piece reveal a later artisan's misunderstanding of the iconography. The tool marks in the holes indicate machine finishing.