Object: Pendant in the form of an archer’s thumbring with bird and raised linked curls F1939.25

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Warring States period, Eastern Zhou dynasty, 475-221 BCE

Object Date: 475-221 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 4.5 × 2.5 × 1.2 cm (1 3/4 × 1 × 1/2 in)

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1939.25

: 鳥紋和凸面連體谷紋扳指形佩
東周戰國時期（公元前475-221年）
中國，傳安徽壽縣出土
軟玉
高1.5、寬7.2、厚0.5釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾基金捐購
器物編號：F1939.25

Provenance: 1931–1932
Purportedly discovered in archaeological site at Anhui province, Shou xian, China [1]

?-1939
Zhang Naiji (1899–1948), Shanghai, China, and New York, NY, from at least February 1939 [2]

From 1939
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased through C.T. Loo and Company, New York, from Zhang Naiji on April 17, 1939 [3]

Notes:

[1] According to information provided by Zhang Naiji to John Ellerton Lodge at the time of acquisition, see John Ellerton Lodge’s note, 1939, in object file. Zhang Naiji stated that he had obtained the jades, selected by the Freer Gallery from a group of about 350 pieces offered for sale (F1939.6 F1939.26 and F1939.28 F1939.33), at the places of their excavation. Lodge commented in his 1939 note: “I see no good reason to doubt [Zhang’s] statement. I have, therefore, specified Shou Chou [Shou xian], or An yang [Anyang], or Lo yang [Luoyang] (Chin Ts’un [Jincun]) as the source of a piece in accordance with Mr. Chang’s [Zhang’s] designations given in my presence and recorded by me.”

[2] See note 1. See also “List of objects contemplated for purchase by Freer Gallery of Art,” approved on February 1, 1939, Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, copy in object file. According to an annotation on the list, the purchase was made from C. T. Loo and Company, New York, acting as agent for the owner and the payment was made on April 17, 1939. Zhang Naiji (also known as N. C. Chang) was a businessman, born to a
prestigious family in Zhejiang that made their wealth in the silk and salt industries. He collected ancient Chinese art objects and Chinese coins. Zhang amassed his collection whilst living in Shanghai, before leaving for America in 1938. Zhang did not return to China until 1946. While the earliest documentation of Zhang’s ownership of the jade dates to February 1939, we know that he acquired the objects in China before his departure.

[3] See “List of objects contemplated for purchase by Freer Gallery of Art,” cited in note 2.

Previous owner(s): Zhang Naiji 張乃驥 (1899-1948)
C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)
C. T. Loo 盧芹齋 (1880-1957)

Description: Translucent white nephrite with small cream color patches; bird shaped spur; incised decorations; one hole for suspension.

Past label text: 1. (Ancient Chinese Jade, September 4, 1980–March 6, 1981; by Julia K. Murray (shown with F1939.23, F1939.24, and F1939.26))

These ornamental rings (F1939.23–F1939.26) are based on the shape of the thumb rings used by archers to improve their aim. Jade examples have been found in Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周 tombs at Chung Chou lu [Zhongzhoulu] 中州路, near Loyang [Luoyang] 洛陽, Honan [Henan] 河南, and in the tomb of the Marquis of Ts’ai [Cai] 蔡 at Shou hsien [Shou xian] 壽縣, Anhui 安徽. The earliest type (F1939.24) displays a convex surface, curvilinear projection, and concave top with tiny perforations. The shape gradually became flattened (F1939.26), and jade thumb rings started to be used as pendants instead of rings.

The surface decoration on these rings consists of relief spirals and finely incised motifs, the latter appearing on the back and sides of the rings. The projecting element on F1939.25 takes the form of an elegant bird standing on one leg.

All four thumb rings are traditionally said to have come from Shou chou [Shou xian] 壽縣, Anhui 安徽.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought through C. T. Loo and Co., New York, from Chang Nai chi [Zhang Naiji] 張乃驥. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List After 1920.
2. (John Ellerton Lodge) See Folders F1939.6, Paragraph 2 and F1939.23, Paragraphs 3 and 4.
3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.986. Nephrite.
4. (William B. Trousdale, 1964) Late Eastern Chou [Zhou], or Warring States period. The Shou Chou [Shou xian] provenance is unverifiable, but reasonable. The extended leaf like portion is, in relation to the perforation, canted to one side and pitched upward on the other.
5. (Undated Folder Sheet note) See F1939.23.
6. (Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480--222 B.C. [Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1982], cat. no. 112) Of the archer's rings in the Freer collections, the decoration of this example is the most detailed. The projection in the upper right of the thumb ring is in the form a realistically modeled bird standing with one leg supported by a raised curl on the descending foliate blade. A plumed tail extends behind the bird embellishing the two planes that form a point at the top of the piece. A perforation runs through the crest of the ring. The abstract forms that appear on these same areas of the other jade rings in the collection probably are derived from more realistic forms of this type. For example, the single loop of the tail that extends onto the upper back surface of the ring may be the source of the simple circle that appears in the same position on another Freer jade ring (cat. No. 111, F1939.23). Linked spirals modeled in low relief and in a generally symmetrical arrangement on either side of a median crest are incised on the shield shaped portion of the ring. Incised foliate forms, again symmetrical in arrangement, decorate the smoothly finished concave back surface.
7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) "Jewelry" added as secondary classification.
8. (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.
9. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 28, 2023) Title changed from "Archer's thumbring (ban zhi)" to "Pendant in the form of an archer’s thumbring with bird and raised linked curls"; Classification changed from "Tool and Equipment" to "Jewelry and Ornament"; Object Name changed from "Archer's thumbring" to "Pendant"; Date changed from "ca. 5th-4th century BCE" to "475-221 BCE"; Geography type Provenance added as "China, purportedly found at Anhui province, Shou xian"; and added Chinese caption by Jingmin Zhang.

Published References

Thomas Lawton. Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480-222 B.C. Washington, 1982-1983. cat. 112, p. 164.

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Pendant in the form of an archer’s thumbring with bird and raised linked curls

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