Dragon pendant

This translucent green jade has grayish suffusions on the head and the back of the dragon. The plaque pendant has two faces decorated with a tall horn flaring on the top, crouching body, and a short, vigorous tail. A cone-shaped cavity decorates both the mouth and the point of the tail; the former one, to make up for one which failed in drilling, was re-ground. The chen character-shaped eyes in this case have no pupils. The major work is conveyed by single lines in intaglio; only one wide groove was crafted on the back of the neck.

The dragon image in jade had already appeared in the neolithic Hongshan culture of the northeast. Pottery from the Erlitou phase corresponding to the Xia period were engraved with dragon images. Unquestionably, dragons became the prominent motif in Shang art. More frequently seen in extant collections, dragon pendants have been reported only a few times from late Shang sites at Anyang. 1 Those examples reveal a curved or crouching body, eyes with or without pupils, and one or two holes on the mouth and the tail. Nine jade dragon slit discs carved with superb skill were uncovered from the Fuhao tomb of King Wuding's wife, indicating that the dragon was associated with the highborn. Simple jade dragons are small and adorned with only single lines in intaglio, while those of good quality jade are decorated with double-outlined work, extravagant openwork, and beautiful burnishing.

1. Kaogu xuebao 1955.9: pl. 16.9; 1979.1: 100.