Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050-ca. 950 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1050-ca. 950 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 12.4 x 1.7 x 1.7 cm (4 7/8 x 11/16 x 11/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.495

: 柄形器
西周（公元前1050-950年）
中國
軟玉
高12.4、寬1.7、厚1.7釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.495

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

From 1959 to 1963
Edna H. Bahr (d. 1978), United States and England, acquired by descent from her father, Abel William Bahr

From 1963 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from Edna H. Bahr 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 #283: "Grey," 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)
Edna H. Bahr (1907-1986)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Handle, squared; relief petals all sides; gray-white. (Minor flaws, deposits.)

Past label text: 1. (In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.492, S1987.496, S1987.838, S1987.671, S1987.665, S1987.847, and S1987.521))

Handle (Bing 柄)
11th century BCE
Shang 商–early Western Zhou 周 dynasties
China
Jade

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Object name changed from "Handle" to "Ceremonial object." Title changed from "Handle (bing 柄)" to "Ancestor tablet."
3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, January 28, 2020) Period One changed from "Shang or Western Zhou dynasty" to "Western Zhou dynasty"; Date changed from "11th century BCE" to "ca. 1050-ca. 950 BCE"; added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the Description field, "Handle, squared; relief petals all sides; gray-white. (Minor flaws, deposits.)"
Added Label Text from the exhibition, In Praise of Ancestors by Thomas Lawton.

Published References

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

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Ancestor tablet

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