Object: Pendant in the form of a rabbit S1987.587

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): 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: 2.1 x 3.9 x 0.4 cm (13/16 x 1 9/16 x 3/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.587

: 兔形飾
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高2.1、寬3.9、厚0.4釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.587

Provenance: As early as 1928
Likely discovered at archeological sites in Loyang, Honan Province, China [1]

To 1948
Zhang Naiji(1899–1948), Shanghai, China then New York, NY [2]

1948 to 1954
Zhang Mei Chien (1901–c.1955), New York, NY inherited upon her husband’s death [3]

1954 to 1963
J. T. Tai & Company, New York, NY bought from ZHANG Mei Chien in July 1954 in New York, NY [4]

1963 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York most likely purchased from J. T. Tai & Company on 5/15/1963 in New York, NY [5]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, September 11, 1987 [7]

Notes:

[1] Object published in Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition (Philadelphia: The University Museum, February 1940), cat. 151. Catalogue entry notes discovery site. Excavations at Anyang began in 1928.

[2] Zhang Naiji (also known as N. C. Chang) was a businessman, born to a prestigious family in Zhejiang that made their wealth in the silk and salt industries. He collected ancient Chinese art objects and Chinese coins. Zhang amassed his collection whilst living in Shanghai, before leaving for America in 1938, and acquired his objects onsite of archeological excavations (see: Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade through the Wei Dynasty. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1963: 115.).

Zhang lent his collection anonymously to Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition. We know his identity through letters housed in the Department of Archives, The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (see: letter, C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 25 October 1939 and letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 16 December 1939), copies in FǀS COM provenance files. The exhibition was entirely organized by C. T. Loo & Company, New York. Letters exchanged between C. T. Loo and the director of The University Museum, Mr. Horace H.F. Jayne, reveal that Zhang Naiji owned the objects and C. T. Loo & Company had the collection on consignment (see: letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 28 May 1939 and letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 23 October 1940, copies on COM provenance files). C. T. Loo & Company kept the jade collection on consignment from 1940 through Zhang’s death in 1948, inventorying the pieces with a prefix “J” and labeling each item as “Chang Collection.”

[3] Zhang Mei Chien, Zhang Naiji’s wife, assumed ownership upon his death in 1948. She sold several pieces from her husband’s collection to J. T. Tai & Company in July 1954 (for example, see J. T. Tai & Company Stock Record YT 886 and YT 895, copies in COM provenance files).

[4] The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation provided documents that report Arthur M. Sackler purchased this piece, S1987.587, from J. T. Tai & Company on 5/5/63 as stock number YT-951. The invoice from J. T. Tai to Arthur M. Sackler, dated 5/15/63 describes YT-951 as: “2 jade pieces.” This object does not have a pendant; nor is it in multiple pieces. It is likely that the object entered Arthur M. Sackler’s collection on 5/15/63, but the Tai stock number was recorded incorrectly. Copy in accession file.

[5] See note 4.

[6] 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)
Zhang Naiji 張乃驥 (1899-1948)
Zhang Mei Chien (1900-1998)
J. T. Tai & Co. (established in 1950)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Rabbit, profile; few carved details; pierced; translucent whitish-green. (Few internal cracks.)

Past label text: 1. Monsters, Myths and Minerals, September 28, 1987–November 26, 1995; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.589 and S1987.741; other jewelries and sculptures shown in same case)

The Year of the Rabbit
1903 1915 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987

Happy and uncomplicated, affectionate and attractive to the opposite sex, the hare is also talented and ambitious. Realistic about its characteristics, the hare leaves leadership roles to the stronger, more powerful animals.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jan Stuart per James Lally, July 9, 2002) Shang 商 dynasty date.

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

3. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 23, 2010) Object name changed from "Pendant: rabbit" to "Jewelry."
4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, October 18, 2019) Title changed from "Rabbit" to "Pendant in the form of a rabbit"; Period One changed from "Western Zhou dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; Date changed from "11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-1050 BCE"; Medium changed from "Jade (nephrite)" to "Jade"; added Chinese caption by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the Description field, "Rabbit, profile; few carved details; pierced; translucent whitish-green. (Few internal cracks.)"
Object name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry."

Published References

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

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