Object: Ancestor tablet with bird S1987.621

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

: 立鳥飾柄形器
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300--1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高7.7、寬3.3、厚0.6釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.621

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

From 1963 to 1987
Dr. 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-2685, 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: Handle (blade?) surmounted by profile owl; raised linear details; pierced; semitranslucent green-tan. (Spotty calcification; old break across bottom; few minor chips.)

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Object Name changed from "Pendant: bird" to "Ceremonial object"; Title changed from "Bird handle" to "Ancestor tablet"; secondary classification changed from "Jewelry and ornament" to "Ceremonial object.

2. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 9, 2017) Object name changed from "Ceremonial object' to "Tablet"; 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"; date changed from "ca. 1300-1000 B.C." to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; medium changed from "jade" to "jade (nephrite)".

3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, December 12, 2018) Title changed from "Ancestor tablet" to "Ancestor tablet with bird"; added Chinese Translation by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the description field, "Handle (blade?) surmounted by profile owl; raised linear details; pierced; semitranslucent green-tan. (Spotty calcification; old break across bottom; few minor chips.)"

Published References

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Ancestor tablet with bird