A jade 'bird' pendant, Late Shang dynasty | 商晚期　龍鳳紋玉珮

Tsai Ching-Liang, Jades of Shang Dynasty, Aurora Art Museum, Taipei, 2010, pl. 126.

The present pendant is worked from a pale celadon and white jade stone with pale brown alterations and slight surface calcification. Carved from a curved section of an annular jade bi disc, the ornament features a highly stylised design of a phoenix surmounted by a mythical dragon. While the craftsman has employed a simplified, abstracted approach, the distinctive hooked beak, wings, and claws of the bird, alongside the dragon's head, remain clearly discernible. The rest of the body is rendered with an economy of line, highlighting the maker's skilful use of the material and sophisticated design ethos.

The unusual linear motifs decorating the bird's body find parallels in jades excavated from Zhouyuan and the Guo State Cemetery in Sanmenxia. Notably, the short tenon extending beneath the claws indicates that this piece was designed to be inserted into another object. It likely served as a fitting or finial for a larger ceremonial implement, such as a sceptre, highlighting its function in important ritual contexts during the late Shang dynasty.

For comparable examples, see a closely related jade pendant depicting a human and dragon, excavated from Tomb No. 2009 in the Guo State Cemetery in Sanmenxia, Henan province, illustrated in Gu Fang, Zhongguo chutu yuqi quanji [The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China], vol. 11, Beijing, 2005, p. 167. Compare also the similarly designed motifs on another jade pendant excavated from the same tomb, illustrated in ibid., p. 169.

出版

蔡慶良，《商代玉器》，震旦藝術博物館，台北，2010年，圖版126

本品青白玉質，局部受沁呈淡褐色，器表微微有白化現象。玉飾截自環璧形玉料，故外形呈優美的圓弧形。本品以鳳鳥為主體，鳳首上依附一神龍。製作者以較為簡練的手法進行創作，除了明確的勾喙、羽翅、足部以及龍首外，其餘部位皆以極簡的線條表現，展現了高超的設計巧思。

鳳鳥身軀所裝飾的紋樣雖較為特殊，但在周原以及三門峽虢國墓中皆曾出土具備相類紋飾之作。此外，足爪下方設有一短柱形插榫，說明本品應是插接在其他器物之上，作為完整儀典重器的組件之一，極有可能是權杖頂端的飾件。

參考相近作例，可比較一件河南省三門峽市虢國墓地2009號墓出土的人龍合體形玉珮，著錄於古方編，《中國出土玉器全集》，卷11，北京，2005年，頁167。另可參考同墓出土之另一件玉珮，其上飾有相類的紋樣，見同書，頁169。