Object: Ancestor tablet with animal head S1987.600

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 7.5 x 3.4 x 1.5 cm (2 15/16 x 1 5/16 x 9/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.600

: 獸首飾柄形器
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300--1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高7.5、寬3.4、厚1.5釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.600

Provenance: To 1963
J. T. Tai & Co., New York, New York [1]

From 1963 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from J. T. Tai & Co., New York, New York in 1963 [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] J. T. Tai's stockcard no. YT-2686, according to information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation on October 9, 2009.

[2] See Tai's invoice dated X/15/63, 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): J. T. Tai & Co. (established in 1950)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Ornament (handle?), with animal head in high relief on one side; opaque cream-tan. (Calcified, with crystalline area; broken off end [?] chipped, worn.)

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Object Name changed from "Handle" to "Ceremonial object." Title changed from "Ornament with raised animal head in front" to "Ancestor tablet."

3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 14, 2017) Object name changed from "Ceremonial object" to "Tablet"; period one changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; date changed from "ca. 1300-1000 B.C" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; period two added "Anyang period"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang".

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, December 13, 2018) Title changed from "Ancestor tablet" to "Ancestor tablet with animal head"; added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang; and added the following to the description field, "Ornament (handle?), with animal head in high relief on one side; opaque cream-tan. (Calcified, with crystalline area; broken off end [?] chipped, worn.)"; medium changed from "Jade (serpentine)" to "Jade".

Published References

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

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Ancestor tablet with animal head

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