Pendant in the form of a fluted ring

1. Bought through C. T. Loo and Company, New York, NY, from Chang Nai chi [Zhang Naiji] 張乃驥. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.

2. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1939). See Folder F1939.6, Paragraph 2.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Well made in itself, but of uncertain function.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Specific gravity is 3.005. Nephrite.

5. (Julia Murray, 1980) Added "Late Eastern" and "Warring States" to Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. See F1939.6.

Exhibition Ancient Chinese Jade label text; moved to label field.

6. (Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480--222  B.C. [Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1982], cat. no. 125) The flattened body of the jade ring is fluted to appear like a  twisted cord, with round grooves and sharp edges. Although it is uncertain as to how such rings were used, their  flattened shapes and small size suggest that they might have been applied to another surface. That  interpretation is given partial support by a bronze mirror in the Fogg Museum. [1] On the Fogg mirror, a flattened ring of this type encloses a wide disk of blue and white eye beads set into blue glass paste. The combination of glass and jade is in keeping with the penchant for assembling and contrasting different materials, characteristic of  the Warring States period.

The Freer ring is said to have come from Shou chou [Shou xian] 壽縣, Anhui 安徽 province. Jade fluted rings were found in the 5th century BCE tomb of the Marquis of Ts'ai [Cai] 蔡 at Shou Hsien [Shou xian] 壽縣, Anhui 安徽 province, [2] the 4th to 3rd century BCE tomb 1 at  Ku wei ts'un [Guwei cun] 固圍村, Hui Hsien [Hui xian] 輝縣, Honan [Henan] 河南 province, [3] and tomb 172 at Yang tzu shan [Yangzishan] 羊子山, Szechwan [Sichuan] 四川 province. [4] A similar ring,  fashioned of bone, was unearthed at Shan piao chen [Shanbiao zhen] 山彪鎮, Honan [Henan] 河南 province. [5]

[1] Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975), no. 524.

[2] Anhui sheng wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 安徽省文物管理委員會 and Anhui sheng bowuguan 安徽省博物館, Shou xian Cai hou mu chutu yiwu 壽縣蔡侯墓出土遺物 (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1956), pls. 28:8-9, 105:10-11 and 14-15.

[3] Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo 中國社會科學院考古研究所, Hui xian fajue baogao 輝縣發掘報告 (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1956) Vol. 1, pl. 55:6--7.

[4] Sichuan sheng wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 四川省文物管理委員會, "Chengdu Yangzishan di 172 hao mu fajue baogao 成都羊子山第172號墓發掘報告," Kaogu xuebao 考古學報 1956.4: pls. 5--6.

[5] Guo Baojun 郭寶鈞, Shanbiao zhen yu Liulige 山彪鎮與琉璃閣 (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1959), p. 49, fig. 20, pl. 33:12

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 18, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Date from "5th--4th century BCE" to "475--221 BCE"; added Previous Owner: Zhang Naiqi. Also changed Object Name from "Jewelry: ring" to "Jewelry"; changed Title from "Flat ring of translucent green gray nephrite" to  "Pendant in the form of a braided ring." Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

8. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 23, 2008) Added "Reputedly Shouzhou [Shou xian] 壽縣, Anhui 安徽 province, probably Jincun 金村,  Henan 河南 province" to Geographical location, Origin.

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

10. (Stephen Allee, March 23, 2009) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Janet Douglas using  Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (January 8, 2009).

11. (Stephen Allee, June 2, 2009) Corrected name of previous owner from Zhang Naiqi to Zhang Naiji 張乃驥 and added  Chinese characters, as well as his life dates (1899--1948) and a brief biography.

12. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, July 9, 2010) Deleted "(pendant)" from Object Name.

13. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 23, 2022) Object Name changed from "Jewelry" to "Pendant"; Title changed from "Pendant in the form of a braided ring" to "Pendant in the form of a fluted ring"; Geography changed from "China, Reputedly Shouzhou, Anhui province, Probably Jincun, Henan province" to "China, probably Henan province, Jincun, but purportedly found at Anhui province, Shou xian"; and added Chinese translation.