Pendant with dragon heads and raised linked curls

1. From original Folder Sheet note: Late Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周.

Bought from C. T. Loo, New York, NY. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.  

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Han 漢.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.947. Decomposition prevents an accurate calculation.

4. (William B. Trousdale, 1964) Late Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周, or Warring States period. Carving of unsurpassed quality.

5. (Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480-222  B.C. [Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1982], cat. no. 85) In shape and size, this pendant is similar to another jade piece in the Freer collection (see F1939.29). At either end of the crescent shaped pendant are monster masks in profile. A series of rounded projections that delineate the masks add variety to the silhouette of the piece. Linked curls in low relief decorate the central portion of the pendant, which is perforated for suspension. [1]

The high luster, tan color and extraordinary quality of workmanship of this jade are similar to those features on a number of pieces said to have been found in the Warring States tombs at Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村, near Loyang [Luoyang] 洛陽, Honan [Henan] 河南 province. A possible Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村 provenance for this pendant is given tentative support by its inclusion in Umehara Sueji's 梅元末治 study of artifacts reported to be from that site. [2] Related jade pendants are illustrated by Na Chih liang [Na Zhiliang] 那志良 [3] and in the report of finds from Hui Hsien [Hui xian] 輝縣, Honan [Henan] 河南 province. [4]

[1] Salmony included the Freer pendant in Carved Jade of Ancient China (Berkeley, CA: Gillick Press, 1938), pl. 40:1.

[2] Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Rakuyō Kinson kobo shūei 洛陽金村古墓聚英 (Kyoto: Kobayashi shashin seihanjo shuppanbu, 1937), pl. 89:5.

[3] Na Chih-liang [Na Zhiliang] 那志良, Chinese Jades: Archaic and Modern from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Rutland, VT: C. E. Tuttle Co., 1977), p. 104, no. 110.

[4] Chung-kuo k'o-hsueh-yuan k'ao-ku yen-chiu-so [Zhongguo kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo] 中國科學院考古研究所, Hui Hsien fa-chueh pao-kao [Hui xian fajue baogao] 輝縣發掘報告 (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1956), pl. 54:6--7.

6. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 19, 2008) Deleted "Jincun 金村" from Artist; added "Possibly Jincun 金村, Henan 河南 province" to Geographical Location, Origin.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 23, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Date from "5th-4th century BCE" to "475-221 BCE." Changed Object Name from "Pendant (peihuang 佩璜)" to "Jewelry"; changed Title from "Ornament" to "Pendant with two dragon heads." Added designation "nephrite" as per Janet G. Douglas using infrared spectroscopy in March 1996. Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 1, 2008) "Jewelry" added as secondary classification.

9. (Stephen Allee, March 23, 2009) Designation "nephrite" in Medium confirmed by Janet Douglas using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (January 8, 2009).

10. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, May 24, 2010) Changed Object Name from "Pendant: dragon" to "Jewelry."

11. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, November 29, 2021) Object Name changed from "Jewelry" to "Pendant"; Title changed from "Pendant with two dragon heads" to "Pendant with dragon heads and raised linked curls"; and added Chinese translation.