Jades for Life and Death

: 璧
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區
軟玉
直徑31.2、厚1.6釐米
亞瑟 M. 賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.453

Provenance: To 1959
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, NY, and Ridgefield, Connecticut [1]

From 1963 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from the Bahr Collection in 1963 [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] According to information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009.

[2] See #86: "Dark brown and green mottled. Disk with centre hole of uneven drilling, from both sides. Outer edge slightly concave. All outer edges rough," on list provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009, copy in object file.

[3] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

Previous owner(s): Abel William Bahr (1877-1959)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: The markings on the interior of the central perforation indicate that it was worked from both sides. There are irregularities in the outer edges of the disk. Several chips in the edge, which is rough. Also: Surface cracks and scratches. The inner hole is roughly carved and nicked.

Past label text: 1. In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.929, S1987.924, S1987.743, S1987.887, S1987.468)
Bi 璧, Ritual Disk
China
Ca. 2500 BCE, Late Neolithic period
Jade

The irregularity of the central perforation of this bi 璧 contrasts with the geometric precision of the form. Since it is clear that the artist of this Chinese jade could have finished the perforation more carefully had he chosen to do so, it is tempting to interpret the incompleteness as being related to a prescribed ritual.

2. Pan-Smithsonian Institution installation, Smithsonian "Castle" Building, Castle Commons, June 17, 2004–
Disk (bi) 璧
China, Neolithic (c. 2500 BCE)
Jade

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (ca. 5000--ca. 1700 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Description per Jenny F. So and Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

2. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial Objects added as secondary classification.

3. ((Jeffrey Smith, April 11, 2016) Transferred from Description: (Jenny So, from Jade Project Database) Opaque coarsely textured, speckled dark reddish-brown with green patches. Hole is much smaller than S1987.919, and is biconical. A jagged ledge on the inner wall marks the imperfect meeting of the two holes. Drilled twice on one face--unusual? Vertical outer wall slightly concave; 1 face and edge better/higher polish than other. Outer edge is rough and chipped in places. Imposing size, thick and heavy disk, similar in material to S1987.929.

Published References

Dr. Paul Singer. Masterpieces from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. .
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. p. 79.

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Disk (bi 璧)