Object: Pendant in the form of a disk with dragons and bird S1987.628

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 950-ca. 850 BCE

Object Date: ca. 950-ca. 850 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 5.2 x 0.5 cm (2 1/16 x 3/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.628

: 龍鳥紋璧形飾
西周（公元前950-850年）
中國
軟玉
直徑5.2、厚0.5釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.628

Provenance: By 1939 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 unknown [4]

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

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

Notes:

[1] In 1939, C. T. Loo, INC., New York lent the object to the Arden Gallery; see 3000 Years of Chinese Jade exh. cat. (New York: Arden Gallery, January 10 – February 11,1939), no. 139.

[2] 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 note 3).

[3] 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). Frank Caro Chinese Art stock no. E 5790, "Jade pendent (Jade Cat. Pl. 44 #2)," see invoice from Frank Caro Chinese Art to Arthur M. Sackler, August 27, 1964, copy in object file.

[4] Frank Caro Chinese Art stock number E-5695: "Jade bird (Arden Cat. #139) (Wadsworth Museum),” see invoice from Frank Caro Chinese Art to Arthur M. Sackler, August 27, 1964, copy in object file.

[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)

Past label text: 1. (In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.674, S1987.546, S1987.931, S1987.692, S1987.565, S1987.516, S1987.534, S1987.478, S1987.481, and S1987.464))

Disk (Yuan 瑗)
10th century BCE
Western Zhou 周 dynasty
China
Jade

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (Stephen Allee, March 25, 2009) Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, gives Date as "ca. 1050--771 BCE" and Title as "Circular necklace piece with bird and dragon"; but as per Keith Wilson, current Date "10th century BCE" is retained, and current Title is changed from "Disk (yuan 瑗)" to "Pendant with bird and dragon," while Object Name "Ornamental disk (yuan 瑗)" is changed to "Jewelry." Changed Medium "Jade" to "Jade (?)," as nscientific analysisis is recorded. Added Measurements (Diam x D: 5.19 x 0.46; Diam. hole: 0.32), as per Christine Lee, Jade
Project Database. Also added Previous Publications (1 item), and "Ex collection C. T. Loo (Lu Qinzhai 盧芹齋to Previousous Owner, as per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database.

3. (Daisy Yiyou Wang 王伊悠, June 4, 2012) Janet Douglas and I examined this piece together in storage awith S2012.9.3539.353 and S1987.526. The surface is altered. It would be a good piece to learn more athe techniquesiques of rendering thread relief with beveled edges. We noticed that the thickness is not even.
4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, November 19, 2019) Title changed from "Pendant with bird and dragon" to "Pendant in the form of a disk with dragons and bird"; Date changed from "10th century BCE" to "ca. 950-850 BCE"; added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang; and added Past Label Text from the exhibition, In Praise of Ancestors.
Object name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry."

Published References

Alfred Salmony. 3000 Years of Chinese Jade. Exh. cat. New York, January 10 - February 1, 1939. no. 139.
Evan H. Turner, Kojira Tomita. 4000 Years of Chinese Art. Exh. cat. Hartford, Connecticut. no. 44.
C.T. Loo & Company, (Introduction) Lindsay Hughes Cooper. An Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades. Exh. cat. New York. pl. 44, 7.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Pendant in the form of a disk with dragons and bird

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