Digital museum showcasing the collection of worldwide legends over the years! 千古不朽博物館展示多年來收藏的世界傳奇故事!
Spring and Autumn period
Pair of Fish-shaped Bronze Artefacts
春秋
魚形銅器一對
Item number: X1
Year: AD 770-476 BC
Material: Copper
Size: 91.5 x 32.5 x 1.3~2.5 mm (per fish)
Weight: 24.88 g (per fish)
Provenance:
1. Fuchin Coins 2016
2. Cheng Xuan Auctions 2010
This is a pair of fish-shaped bronze artefacts crafted during the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC). The obverse of each piece boasts a purplish-red surface, with detailed carvings of fish scales, heads, and fins. Near the mouth area, there is a hole designed for threading and attachment. The reverse of the bronze pieces are hollowed out, lacking any decoration or carving, and show varying degrees of verdigris corrosion.
Bronze fish artefacts are predominantly found in the tombs of middle to high-ranking nobles from the Western Zhou to the middle Spring and Autumn period, mainly near the areas close to the Zhou royal capitals in Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan provinces. This geographical distribution highlights the close connection between these objects and Zhou culture. The debate over whether bronze fish served as a form of currency in ancient China has persisted since the Republican era. Supporters, such as the numismatist Zheng Jiaxiang, argue that bronze fish were derived from shell currency transactions among the ancient inhabitants of the Yellow River region. Given that bronze fish are often unearthed alongside seashells, which have monetary characteristics, many auction houses and collectors have subsequently classified them within the category of currency.
Since the 1970s, systematic archaeological excavations by the Chinese government focusing on the ancient era have increasingly indicated that bronze fish were not currency but purely burial ornaments. A key reason is that bronze fish have only been unearthed from tombs and not from residential sites, cities, or other living spaces, often in quantities ranging from dozens to hundreds. If bronze fish had served as circulating currency, their discovery sites and quantities would likely be more widespread. Additionally, there has been no evidence of bronze fish being stored in the “hoards” used for keeping currency during the Spring and Autumn period.
Scholars supporting the theory that bronze fish were burial ornaments primarily reference the “Book of Rites,” a work describing Zhou dynasty funeral customs, particularly the chapter “Greater Record of Mourning Rites.” This text mentions that the coffins of nobles above the rank of Dafu (a high-ranking royal) were adorned with fish-shaped decorations. As the carriage transported the coffin to the cemetery, these fish-shaped ornaments, made of jade or bronze, were said to mimic the lively leaping of fish on the surface of a pond.