Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 20.3 × 2.4 × 1.2 cm (8 × 15/16 × 1/2 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.671

: 柄形器
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250--1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高20.2、寬2.3、厚1.2釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.671

Description: Handle (?), knife-shaped, portion with large petal-shape in low relief; tapered to rounded, spade-shaped end; translucent milky white, tan streaking. (Some calcification and interior crystallization; slight nick in edge. Good condition.)

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, and additional Zhou 周 dynasty tablets)

Handle (Bing 柄)
13th–11th centuries BCE
Shang 商 dynasty
China
Jade

2. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Tablet
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.671

Tablet
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1939.31

Tablet
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Arthur M. sackler S1987.493

Tablet
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Marble
The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul singer, the AMS Foundation for the arts, sciences, and humanities, and the children of Arthur M. Sackler S2012.9.283

Tablet
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1915.234

Ritual in the Afterlife
The contents of Anyang tombs reveal the need to continue rituals in the afterlife. In addition to bronze food and wine containers, stone handle-shaped objects like the five seen here are sometimes found inscribed with the honorific names used for deceased ancestors, suggesting they played a role in spiritual offerings. Other objects may have been specifically created for burial, like miniature, unfinished, and fragmentary jade dagger-axes; along with thin, impractical bronze examples, they offered symbolic protection. Both human and animal sacrifice also feature regularly in Anyang tombs, and a small bronze collar bell is often found with the skeleton of a dog buried directly below the main tomb occupant. Such funerary goods exhibit the same surface patterns found on other Anyang ritual objects.

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. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 3, 2017) Period one changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Middle Shang dynasty"; date changed from "ca. 13th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1400-ca. 1300 BCE"; medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)"; object name changed from "Ceremonial Object" to "Tablet".

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, December 12, 2018) Added Translation by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the description field, "Handle (?), knife-shaped, portion with large petal-shape in low relief; tapered to rounded, spade-shaped end; translucent milky white, tan streaking. (Some calcification and interior crystallization; slight nick in edge. Good condition.)"; added past label text by Thomas Lawton.
5. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 13, 2023)
Change title from "Ancestor tablet" to "Tablet."
Change object name from "Tablet" to "Ritual object: Tablet."
Change period from "Middle Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty, Anyang period."
Change period from "中商" to "晚商安陽時期" in the translation field.
Change date from "ca. 1400-ca. 1300 BCE" to "ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE."
Change date from "公元前1400-1300年" to "公元前1250-1050年" in the translation field.
Change geography from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang."
Change georgraphy from "中國" to "中國，疑似河南安陽市" in the translation field.

Published References

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

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