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Disc with a phoenix and a dragon
- loan
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Details
- Associated place
- Date
- 1911 - 1963
- Material and technique
- jade, with carved decoration
- Dimensions
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0.6 cm (height)
12.2 cm (width)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
- Accession no.
- LI1301.28
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Further reading
University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. J14
Glossary
phoenix
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phoenix
Mythical bird known as hōō in Japan. The Islamic tradition appropriated the far-eastern iconography of the phoenix and used it to represent another mythical bird, the simurgh.
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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The Barlow Collection
The disc shows a mixture of styles, although it is basically imitating an archaic jade. Unlike archaic examples, it was not carved from a flat disc, but varies greatly in thickness, according to the design.
The piece is made of green stone, ranging from a deep grey green to a paler yellowish green, with yellowish-brown patches. It is carved as an unevenly shaped disc, with a circular hole in the centre and a pointed tip, flanked by an openwork dragon and an openwork cloud motif. On one side, the hole is incorporated off-centre into an oval surround, which slopes towards the hole, where the disc is very thin; on the other side, it is surrounded by a rope-twist border. The surface is decorated with angled and archaistic scroll motifs in relief.
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