Object: Pendant in the form of a mask S1987.515

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 4 x 3.4 x 0.5 cm (1 9/16 x 1 5/16 x 3/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.515

: 獸面形飾
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高4、寬3.4、厚0.5釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號: S1987.515

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), 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 #547: "Triangular mask with high head dress flanged," 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: Triangularly shaped mask carved with abstract design; pierced twice; greenish tan. (Mostly calcified; deposits; bottom side rough; old depression top left; nicks at top and bottom edges; pitting.)

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 15, 2010) Title changed from "Pendant: mask (taotie 饕餮)" to "Pendant in the form of a mask (taotie 饕餮)." Object name from "Pendant: mask (taotie 饕餮)" to "Jewelry."

3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, May 10, 2018) Title changed from "Pendant in the form of a mask (taotie)" to "Pendant in the form of a mask"; 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. 1300-1000 BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)"; object name changed from "jewelry" to "pendant"; added Chinese object caption by Jingmin Zhang; and added the following to the description field, "Triangularly shaped mask carved with abstract design; pierced twice; greenish tan. (Mostly calcified; deposits; bottom side rough; old depression top left; nicks at top and bottom edges; pitting.)"

Published References

Alfred Salmony. Carved Jade of Ancient China. Berkeley, 1938. pl. 21, no. 8.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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