紅山文化玉魚, L. 32cm, H. 22cm,  1428.4grams。本器玉魚造型, 狀似彩虹, 微張的魚嘴象徵其久旱得水之歡愉, 頭部與身體係以兩條圓弧形的陰線隔開,鰭的造型採抽象手法, 在魚背及魚腹上以陰線表示,魚尾張開與地面平行, 並與頭部對稱, 此外, 魚背的魚鰭終點及魚腹魚鰭的起點各有一V型缺口, 這是紅山玉魚的設計師的驚人之筆, 以此來吸引欣賞者, 將目光投射於此, 以抵消魚鰭向內裝飾的缺憾. 本件玉質經拉曼光譜測定為天然軟玉, 全器呈紅色, 差異風化,溶蝕孔, 擴散暈沁色及次生長晶體明顯.本器無論刀工或鑽孔方式, 均符合紅山文化特徵。

Jade Identification:
The rainbow shaped design of the Hongshan culture jade fish made of nephrite (tested by Raman spectrometer)may be the origin of Hwan in later generations. The fish’s mouth opens slightly implies the cheerfulness of having water after the dry season. The body of the fish is separated from the head by two round shape incised lines which confirm the genre of Hongshan jade carving such as the jade pig head pendant seen here(Hongshan Culture, Jade Pig Head Pendant, H.3.5cm, W.4.5cm, T.2cm, A collection of Artifact Division,  Culture Bureau, Tianjin City, China). The fins on both sides of the body are carved within the body instead of extending from the body.
This kind of abstract design also becomes the origin of some the fish design seen in the Western Zhou dynasty(as the one on this page: Zhou Jade Fish, L.11cm, W.1.9cm, T.0.2cm, unearthed in 1983, Graveyard #50, Zhang Jia Po, Chang An County, Shanxi Province. A collection of Chinese Academy of Social Science.). The fishtail also opens slightly and

horizontally touches the ground to be consistent with the fish head. The color of the whole object is red with some green secondary additives. There are obvious differential weathering, dissolved pits, diffusive markings, and additive crystals to further confirm its antiquity. In general, besides mastery workmanship, this item has significant historical value due to its originality in design for artifacts made in later periods such as the Western Zhou Dynasty

Jade Appreciation:

In terms of jade appreciation, this artifact may be looked into the following three aspects:1. Abstract design: the curvy body to symbolize rainbow which has the shape of arch or huang. This object serves the originality of Chinese jade huangs in the later period. 2. The fish fin carved inside the body instead of extending from the body is an artistic expression signifies the Hongshan carving style. 3. The open design of the fish’s mouth symbolizes the joy of having water after a long drought. This is the hope and relief after a long time suffers.4. Artistic significance: There are V shape cuts, one locates at the ending of fins on the back, the other locates at the beginning of the fins on the belly, these two cuts are the most significant artistic significance to highlight the fins to offset the embedding effect of the fins.