Dragon-shaped jade ornament- Hunan Museum
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Dragon-shaped jade ornament
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Medium:Jade
Date:Shang Dynasty (ca.1600-1050 BCE)

Dimensions: Length 10.5cm; width 4.1cm

Origin: Unearthed at Wangjiafen Mountain, Huangcai, Ningxiang Country in 1970

It's an ornament which is made of green jade with red-brown spots. There were many places that produced jade, of these, perhaps the most sought after is Hetian jade from Xinjiang. But in the Shang Dynasty, Hetian jade was unusual in the Central Plains. At that time, jade producing places weren't in high demand. People used beautiful stones in place of jade.


This ornament has a dragon design. The Chinese created the image of dragon and have continued to uphold it. We can see a dragon design on many utensils. This dragon is unusual because of the two horns and pointed incisors on its head makes it looks like a tiger head. There is a hole at the head to tie a string for wearing. This dragon piece and more than 300 pieces made of jade were stored in a bronze container with a dragon and phoenix design, we know that people liked jade pieces so much that they were indispensable ornaments for the noble people of that time.