A very rare jade 'bird' pendant, Late Shang dynasty | 商晚期　高冠玉鳥

Tsai Ching-Liang, Jades of Shang Dynasty, Aurora Art Museum, Taipei, 2010, pl. 133.

This remarkable jade bird pendant stands out for its elegant arc-shaped form and the skillful workmanship demonstrated by the highly stylised long crest on the head, in contract to the evocative carving to represent a powerful and stylised bird.

The present lot is closely related in style and design to a larger jade bird pendant of the mid-late Shang dynasty, formerly from the Cissy and Robert Tang Collection, which was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2023, lot 3795.

Other comparable examples include a smaller green jade bird pendant excavated in 1976 from the Tomb of Fu Hao, Yinxu, Anyang, Henan province, which features an upright crest, as illustrated in Queen, Mother and General: 40th Anniversary of Excavating the Shang Tomb of Fu Hao: Jade Article, Beijing, 2016, p. 44. Four other bird pendants of slightly smaller size, excavated from the same tomb, show simpler linear designs on the crest and are similarly illustrated in ibid., pp. 41-43. See also another thick jade bird pendant with a shorter crest, from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung, illustrated in Jessica Rawson’s Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 218, no. 12:14.

This pendant is a testament to the unparalleled skill of Shang dynasty jade artisans, reflecting their ability to imbue jade carvings with profound artistic and spiritual resonance. It embodies the sophistication and cultural significance of jade in one of ancient China's most advanced civilisations.

出版

蔡慶良，《商代玉器》，震旦藝術博物館，台北，2010年，圖版133

青色玉質，全器受沁呈棕褐色，玉器表面微有白化。由於玉料較為狹長，玉匠將羽冠拉長，以符合玉鳥頭、身、足的視覺比例，使整器更顯剛勁有力。鳥羽冠上端回收的勾尖，和鳥喙的雕刻方式相同，同屬商代晚期的工藝特徵。羽翅上翹的羽紋單元，也是商代晚期典型的紋飾。

喜聞過齋曾收藏一件商中晚期黃白玉弧形高冠鳥飾可資比較，後售於香港蘇富比2023年4月8日，拍品編號3795。

河南安陽殷墟婦好墓曾出土鳥形片雕與本品類似，皆以動物側面輪廓而表現，刀工大部分皆以陰線雙鉤之法而飾，且尺寸一般不會超過十公分，如河南安陽商代婦好墓出土，現藏於中國社會科學院考古研究所的一件玉鸚鵡，見《王后母親女將：紀念殷墟婦好墓考古發掘四十周年：玉器篇》，北京，2016年，頁44。另見四件婦好墓出土的玉鸚鵡片飾，均較小且稍薄，且羽冠部門的處理更為簡化，同上註，頁41-43。何鴻卿爵士舊藏一件商代青玉鳥，亦較厚，但鳥冠較短，見羅森，《Chinese Jades from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁218，編號12:14。

此玉鳥展現了商代玉匠卓越的工藝技巧，反映出他們能夠賦予玉雕深刻的藝術與精神內涵。此器不僅體現了商代晚期玉器製作的高超工藝，也呈現了當時文化對玉的高度重視與崇敬，代表了玉器在商代晚期文明中的至關重要的地位。