Object: Pendant in the form of a notched disk with pairs of dragons S1987.516

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 950-ca. 850 BCE

Object Date: ca. 950-ca. 850 BCE

Medium: Calcite (travertine)

Dimension(s): Diam x D (Overall): 5.9 × 0.4 cm (2 5/16 × 3/16 in) Diam (Hole): 1.4 cm (9/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.516

: 龍紋牙璧形飾
西周（公元前950-850年）
中國
軟玉
直徑、厚釐米；孔徑釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.516

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 #549: "Circ. Pendant-Double Tiger Green," 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)

Past label text: 1. (In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.674, S1987.546, S1987.931, S1987.692, S1987.565, S1987.628, S1987.534, S1987.478, S1987.481, and S1987.464))

Pendant (Pei 珮)
10th century BCE
Western Zhou 周 dynasty
China
Jade

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 24, 2010) Object name changed from "Pendant: notched disk" to "Jewelry." Title changed from "Pendant (xuanji 璇璣): notched disk" to "Pendant (xuanji 璇璣) in the form of a notched disk."

3. (Daisy Yiyou Wang 王伊悠, June 4, 2012) Janet Douglas and I examined this piece together in storage. The carving is very fine, and it would be a good piece to learn more about the techniques of rendering the thread with dramatically and neatly beveled edges. We noticed that the thickness is not even. There are two connecting tiny holes in the recessed area, perhaps serving as a place to hold a cord.

The shape of this piece might not come from the notched disks called xuanji 璇璣, but may originate from the Shang 商 period dragon shaped pendant (jue 玦) based on a comparison with S2012.9.353, S1987.606, S1987.597, and another similar example found in the Fu Hao 婦好 tomb. The notched area of S1987.516 suggests the opening of the head and tail of the dragon.
4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, November 18, 2019) Title changed from "Pendant (xuanji) in the form of a notched disk" to "Pendant in the form of a notched disk with pairs of dragons"; Date changed from "10th century BCE" to "ca. 950-850 BCE"; Medium changed from "Calcite (travertine)" to "Jade"; Object name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry"; added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the Description field, "Ring formed by pair of coiled dragons; the two heads, in profile, confront each other on either side of a concave depression in the outer contour. Details are articulated with incised lines, some beveled. The central perforation is asymmetrically placed. (Soil/cinnabar, old paper label adhering.)"
Added past label text from the exhibition, In Praise of Ancestors.
5. (Jeffrey Smith, January 23, 2020) Medium changed from Jade to Calcite (travertine), based on analysis by Matthew Clarke (hardness and chemical test).

Published References

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

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Pendant in the form of a notched disk with pairs of dragons

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