Object: Pendant in the form of a bird S1987.536

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
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 #436: "Long tailed bird. Green-cinnabar," 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: Pendant; engraved long-tailed bird as plaque; pierced; translucent yellow-green. (Deposits; spots of calcification; surface crack.)

Past label text: 1. (In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton)(shown with S1987.590, S1987.580, S1987.704, S1987.560, S1987.620, S1987.846, S1987.863, S1987.531, S1987.870, S1987.530, S1987.547, S1987.679, S1987.623, S1987.862, S1987.525, S1987.873, S1987.872, S1987.869, and S1987.544; additional bronzes shown in same case)

Pendant (Pei 珮)
11th–10th centuries 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 15, 2010) Title changed from "Pendant (pei 珮): bird" to "Pendant in the form of a bird"; Object name from "Pendant: bird" to "Jewelry."
3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 15, 2019) Title changed from "Pendant (pei) in the form of a bird" to "Pendant in the form of a bird"; Date changed from "11th-10th century BCE" to "ca. 1050-950 BCE"; Medium changed from "Jade (nephrite)" to "Jade"; Object name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry"; added the following to the Description field, "Pendant; engraved long-tailed bird as plaque; pierced; translucent yellow-green. (Deposits; spots of calcification; surface crack)"; and added Label Text from the exhibition, In Praise of Ancestors.

Published References

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Pendant in the form of a bird