Object: Pendant in the form of a mask, probably reworked from a tube (cong 琮) S1987.550

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 3.2 × 4.6 × 1.6 cm (1 1/4 × 1 13/16 × 5/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.550

: 獸面形飾，似由琮後期加工而成
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高3.2、寬4.6、厚1.6釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號: S1987.550

Provenance: At least 1941 to 1948
C. T. Loo & Company, New York, NY [1]

1948 to 1953
C. T. Loo, INC., New York, NY by transfer from C. T. Loo & Company, NY [2]

1953 to 1961
C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York, NY by transfer from C. T. Loo, INC., NY [3]

1961 to 1964
Frank Caro Chinese Art, New York, NY, mode of acquisition known [4]

1964 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY purchased in New York City from Frank Caro Chinese Art, New York, NY on August 27, 1964 [5]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [6]

Notes:

[1] C. T. Loo & Company featured the object in a 1941 sale; see C. T. Loo & Company, Exhibition of Chinese Arts, catalogue of a Special Sale. C. T. Loo & Company, New York, NY (November 1,1941 to April 30, 1942), no. 244.

[2] In 1948, when C. T. Loo could no longer trade in mainland China, he closed C. T. Loo & Company and opened C. T. Loo, INC.

[3] On September 1, 1952, C. T. Loo’s associate, Frank Caro (1904-1980) took over daily operations of the New York business. C. T. Loo, INC. was dissolved by the summer of 1953 and Caro operated as C. T. Loo Chinese Art. Loo continued to play a large role in the business, as he and Caro struck a deal in which profits made on Loo’s stock would be evenly divided and Loo would maintain the lease and rental payments on the company’s gallery space. Caro assigned new inventory numbers to C. T. Loo & Company’s stock, assigning numbers with an “E” prefix. This object was included in that inventory process (see inventory number cited in note 4).

[4] In 1961, Loo and Caro’s agreement ended. C. T. Loo & Cie., Paris, France took control of C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York’s stock that C. T. Loo had added to the inventory before his death in 1957. Frank Caro then opened Frank Caro Chinese Art. Caro acquired pieces from Loo’s original stock (the mode of acquisition is unknown). See invoice from Frank Caro Chinese Art to Arthur M. Sackler, August 27, 1964, stock no. E 5679, “Small greenish tiger. (Jade Cat. Pl 18 #8 and Red Cat. #244)”, copy in object file. When Frank Caro acquired C. T. Loo’s stock (see note 1), he inventoried the objects and assigned new stock numbers, giving C. T. Loo & Company’s objects new numbers, many of which had an “E” prefix.

[5] 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): C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)
C.T. Loo, INC. (ca. 1948-no later than July 1953)
C.T. Loo Chinese Art (1953-1961)
Frank Caro Chinese Art (1962-1980)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Mask with convex surface. Pierced jaws and horns. Eye, jaw, and horns with spiral decoration are in doubly engraved line-relief. Engraved diamond on forehead. Reverse undecorated. Translucent green jade, brown marking on one edge. (Traces of earth; minor flaws.)

Past label text: 1. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Fitting in the form of a mask (taotie); Pendants:
Face and Dragon, recycled from Neolithic objects
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Arthur M. Sackler S2012.9.165, S2012.9.319, and S2012.9.355

Pendants: Mask (taotie),
Dragon, and Birds, recycled
from Neolithic objects
Anyang period,
ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.865, S1987.550, S1987.549, S1987.879, and S1987.861

Recycling
Since jade was a valuable commodity, broken or outof-fashion articles were not discarded but were instead recycled to make new objects. Most of the Anyang jades shown at the bottom of this case were made by cutting up a special kind of Neolithic square tube called a cong, which had lost its ritual significance in Shang times.

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 14, 2010) Object name changed from "Pendant: animal head mask" to "Jewelry." Title from "Pendant (pei 佩): animal head mask" to "Pendant (pei 佩) in the form of an animal head mask."

3. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, May 10, 2018) Title changed from "Pendant (pei) in the form of an animal head mask" to "Pendant in the form of a mask, probably reworked from a tube (cong 琮)"; 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"; object name changed from "jewerly" to "Pendant"; date changed from "ca. 12th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; added Chinese object caption by Jingmin Zhang; and added the following to the description field, "Mask with convex surface. Pierced jaws and horns. Eye, jaw, and horns with spiral decoration are in doubly engraved line-relief. Engraved diamond on forehead. Reverse undecorated. Translucent green jade, brown marking on one edge. (Traces of earth; minor flaws.)"
5. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 22, 2023)
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE."
Change date from "公元前1300-1050年" to "公元前1250-1050年" in the translation field.

Published References

Exhibition of Chinese Arts, Special Sale. Exh. cat. New York, 1941-1942. no. 244.
C.T. Loo & Company, (Introduction) Lindsay Hughes Cooper. An Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades. Exh. cat. New York. plate 18, no. 8.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Pendant in the form of a mask, probably reworked from a tube (cong 琮)

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