Fish pendant, one of a pair

Grayish green jade with some adhered earth remains and suffused areas, forms a thin plaque, depicting a straight fish flattened at the sections of the mouth and the tail. The upturned mouth is harmonious with the bifurcated tail. The fish is simply incised with round eyes, gills outlined by a pair of lines, a long fin on the back and two shorter fins on the belly, all are represented by dense parallel short lines. A perforation is placed on the upper gill.

Not only did Shang jade fish vary in shapes, functions, and decorations on the body, but their compositional themes were manifold. The straight fish forms from the Fuhao tomb appear to have been used as knives and earpicks in addition to the traditional function as ornaments. [1] The depiction of fish was rendered as with round eyes worked by single or double outlines, a single line of fins on the back and two friezes of short fins on the belly, and a forked or straight ended tail. One or two perforations were executed as the indication of the mouth or tail ends. Western-Zhou jade carvers generally inherited the Shang's manner of depicting fish, as many straight-bodied fish have been unearthed from Western Zhou tombs. [2]

(published: d'Argence 1977: 28)
1. Yinxu Fuhao mu (Fuhao tomb at Yinxu), Wenwu Publishing House 1980: pls. 121, 129, 146.
2. Zhongguo yuqi quanji (Collection of Chinese Jade), Hebei meishu chubanshe 1993 vol. II: 257-263.