Object: Ancestor tablet with bird and human hybrid S1987.665

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050-ca. 950 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1050-ca. 950 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite with serpentine)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 10 x 2 x 0.6 cm (3 15/16 x 13/16 x 1/4 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.665

: 鳥紋神人紋柄形器
西周（公元前1050-950年）
中國
軟玉混蛇紋石
高10、寬2、厚0.6釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.665

Provenance: By 1941 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 known [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]

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

Notes:

[1] C. T. Loo & Company featured the object in a 1941 sale; see C. T. Loo & Company, Exhibition of Chinese Arts, catalogue of a Special Sale. C. T. Loo & Company, New York, NY (November 1,1941 to April 30, 1942), no. 287.

[2] C. T. Loo formed C. T. Loo, INC. in 1948 when C. T. Loo & Company could no longer access trade in China.

[3] 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.

[4] 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 inventory no. E 5638: “Jade tablet (jade cat. Pl 33 #5 and Red Cat. #287),” see invoice from Frank Caro Chinese Art to Arthur M. Sackler, August 27, 1964, copy in object file.

[5] See invoice cited in 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)
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)

Description: Long rectangular jade handle with an irregularly shaped projection at the lower end, possibly for insertion into some other material. Incised ornamentation on both sides rendered in double outlines and sloping cuts, with a bird atop a human figure. (Flawed, worn; calcified.)

Past label text: 1. (In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987--January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.492, S1987.496, S1987.838, S1987.671, S1987.521, S1987.495, and S1987.847))

Handle (Bing 柄)
10th century BCE
Western Zhou 周 dynasty
China
Jade

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 "Handle (bing 柄)" to "Ancestor tablet."

3. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) "Nephrite with serpentine" added as modifier to existing medium "Jade" based on conservation analysis.
4. (Jeffrey Smith, August 8, 2019) Medium changed from "Jade (nephrite with serpentine)" to "Jade (nephrite)" based on analysis by Matthew Clarke on July 23, 2019.
5. (Najiba Choudhury, January 31, 2020) Title changed from "Ancestor tablet (bing)" to "Ancestor tablet with bird and human hybrid"; Date changed from "10th century BCE" to "ca. 1050-ca. 950 BCE"; medium changed from "Jade (nephrite)" to "Jade (nephrite with serpentine)"; added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang.
Added the following to the Description field, "Long rectangular jade handle with an irregularly shaped projection at the lower end, possibly for insertion into some other material. Incised ornamentation on both sides rendered in double outlines and sloping cuts, with a bird atop a human figure. (Flawed, worn; calcified.)"

Published References

Exhibition of Chinese Arts, Special Sale. Exh. cat. New York, 1941-1942. no. 287.
C.T. Loo & Company, (Introduction) Lindsay Hughes Cooper. An Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades. Exh. cat. New York. pl. 33, 5.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Jessica Rawson. Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing. London, 1995. p. 25, fig. 1.

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Ancestor tablet with bird and human hybrid

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