Object: Fitting with masks (taotie) F1948.23

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Marble

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 8.6 × 5.1 × 2.3 cm (3 3/8 × 2 × 7/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1948.23

: 獸面紋配件
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
大理石
高8.5、寬5、厚2.7釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾基金捐購
器物編號: F1948.23

Provenance: From at least 1948
F. Low-Beer & Co., New York, N.Y., from at least January 1948 [1]

From October 1948
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976) on October 26, 1948 [2]

Notes:

[1] Fritz Low-Beer mentioned the carving in his correspondence with John A. Pope, Assistant Director, Freer Gallery of Art, see F. Low-Beer to J. A. Pope, January 8, 1948. The object was shipped to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on February 2, 1948, and approved for purchase next month, see R. W. Edwards to F. Low-Beer, February 2, 1948, and the document confirming the examination of the object and approval by the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, the Commission of Fine Arts, and Katherine Rhoades, dated March 24, 1948, copy in object file.

[2] See Low-Beer’s invoice, dated October 26, 1948, where the object is listed as “Marble carving with T’ao t’ie decoration. Said to come from Anyang (Honan). Shang,” copy in object file.

Previous owner(s): Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976)

Description: Ornamental carving in high and low relief slightly damaged at top apparently by calcination.

Past label text: 1. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Fitting with masks
(taotie)
Anyang period,
ca. 1250–1050 BCE

Marble
Purchase-Charles Lang
Freer Endowment F1948.23

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Fritz Low-Beer and Company, New York. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.

2. (William B. Trousdale, 1964) Shang 商 dynasty. On the reverse two slant drilled holes, joined to form a loop for attaching the piece to some surface. Fine quality Shang 商 marble carving, with sculptural and thread-line relief.

3. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 29, 2008) Jewelry and Ornament added as secondary classification.

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 2, 2017) Title changed from "Ornamental carving in high and low relief slightly damaged at top apparently by calcination" to "Fitting with masks"; period one changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period two added "Anyang period"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; date changed from "ca. 12th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-1050 BCE".

5. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, July 25, 2018) Title changed from "Fitting with masks" to "Ornament with masks"; medium changed from "Stone (Marble)" to "Marble"; and added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang.
6. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 13, 2023)
Change title from "Ornament with masks" to "Fitting with masks (taotie)."
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE."
Change date from "公元前1300-1050年" to "公元前1250-1050年" in the translation field.

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Fitting with masks (taotie)

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