Object: Disk (bi) with raised hexagons arranged in a grid and interlaced birds S1987.593

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Western Han dynasty, 206 BCE-9 CE

Object Date: 206 BCE-9 CE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 12.7 × 0.3 cm (5 × 1/8 in) Diam (hole): 5.4 cm (2 1/8 in)

Origin: China, purportedly found at Anhui province, Shouxian

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.593

: 凸面網格蒲紋和交鳥紋璧
西漢（公元前206-公元9年）
中國，傳安徽壽縣出土
軟玉
直徑12.7、厚0.3釐米；孔徑5.4釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.593

Provenance: Between 1931 and 1932
Likely discovered in tomb located in Shou xian, Anhui province, China [1]

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

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

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

1963 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY, purchased from J. T. Tai and Company on May 15, 1963, in New York, NY [5]

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

Notes:

[1] Object published in Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition, February 1940 (Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1940), cat. 40, pictured as 36 (typing error). Catalogue entry notes discovery site as Shou hsien (now
known as Shou xian), where tombs were exposed between 1931 and 1932. During this period the tombs were
never properly excavated. This discovery site is unlikely given the style of the object.

[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 archaeological excavations (see Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade through the Wei Dynasty [New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1963], p. 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 Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (see letter from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, October 25, 1939, and letter from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, December 16, 1939), copies in Freer and Sackler COM provenance files. The exhibition was entirely organized by C. T. Loo and 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 and Company had the collection on consignment (see letter from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, May 28, 1939, and letter from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, October 23, 1940, copies on COM provenance files). C. T. Loo and 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 [Zhang] 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 and Company in July 1954 (for example, see J. T. Tai and Company Stock Record YT 886 and YT 895, copies in COM provenance files).

[4] J. T. Tai and Company, New York, stock record: YT 601: “1 Jade Piece.” See invoice from J. T. Tai and Company to Arthur M. Sackler, dated May 15, 1963, located in object file.

[5] See note 4. This object was part of Arthur M. Sackler’s 1987 foundational gift to the museum.

[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: Semi translucent pale yellowish green with brown patches. Decorated on both faces with faceted knobs arranged in diagonal grid; outer border with incised scrolled bird motifs; a striated band separates these two designs.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) "Ceremonial Object" added as secondary classification.
2. (Stephen Allee, March 25, 2009) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Period One from "Han 漢 dynasty" to "Western Han 漢 dynasty"; and added Description. As per Keith Wilson, changed Date from "3rd-1st centuries BCE" to "2nd-1st century BCE"; changed Title from "Ritual disk, Bi 璧" to "Disk (bi 璧) with scrolls and knobs"; changed Object Name from "Disk (bi 璧)" to "Ceremonial Object". Changed Medium "Jade" to "Jade (?)" as no scientific analysis is recorded. Added Measurements (Diam x D: 12.7 x 0.3; Diam [hole]: 5.4), as per Christine Lee, Jade Project Database.
3. (Jeffrey Smith per Matthew Clarke, July 25, 2022) Medium changed from Jade (?) to Jade (nephrite).
4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, June 7, 2023) Title changed from "Disk (bi) with scrolls and knobs" to "Disk (bi) with raised hexagons arranged in a grid and interlaced birds"; Date changed from "2nd-1st century BCE" to "206 BCE–9 CE"; Geography changed from "China" to "China, purportedly found at Anhui province, Shouxian"; and added Chinese Translation by Jingmin Zhang.

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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