Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Spring and Autumn period, Eastern Zhou dynasty, ca. 600-476 BCE

Object Date: ca. 600-476 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 17 × 0.6 cm (6 11/16 × 1/4 in) Diam (hole): 6.9 cm (2 11/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.674

: 龍紋璧
東周春秋時期（公元前600-476年）
中國
軟玉
直徑、厚0.4釐米；孔徑
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.674

Provenance: By 1949 to 1953
C. T. Loo, INC., New York, NY [1]

1953 to 1961
C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York, NY, by transfer from C. T. Loo, INC. [2]

1962 to 1964
Frank Caro Chinese Art, New York, NY, by transfer from C. T. Loo Chinese Art [3]

1964 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY, purchased from Frank Caro Chinese Art on August 27, 1964, in New York, NY [4]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [5]

Notes:

[1] Object published in C. T. Loo, INC., An Exhibition of Chinese Archaic Jades: Arranged for Norton Gallery of Art (Norton Gallery of Art, 1950), plate XXXII, no.4.

[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 and 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 and 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 5792, “Jade Pi [Bi] (Jade Cat. Pl: 32 #3), see invoice from Frank Caro Chinese Art to Arthur M. Sackler, August 27, 1964, copy in object file. As of September 2019, corresponding stock card has not been located in the C. T. Loo and Frank Caro Archive at the Musée Guimet, Paris.

[4] See Frank Caro’s invoice cited in note 3.

[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)
Frank Caro (1904-1980)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 29, 2008) "Ceremonial Object" added as secondary classification.
2. (Stephen Allee, March 25, 2009) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Period One from "Western Zhou 周 dynasty" to "Early Eastern Zhou 周 dynasty." Jenny F. So also gives Date as "771--475 BCE" and Title as "Disk with double incised dragon heads"; but as per Keith Wilson, changed current Date from "10th century BCE" to "7th--6th century BCE"; changed Title from "Disk (bi) 璧" to "Ring with dragons"; changed Object Name from "Disk (bi) 璧" to "Jewelry"; and added "Spring and Autumn period" to Period Two. Designation "nephrite" added to Medium "Jade," as per Janet Douglas, using infrared spectroscopy (June 2006). Added Measurements (Diam x D: 17.0 x 0.6; Diam [hole]: 6.9) as per Christine Lee, Jade Project Database. Also added Published References (1 item), as per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database.
3. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, October 20, 2010) Title changed from "Ring with dragons" to "Disk (bi) 璧 with dragons"; changed Period Two from "Spring and Autumn period" to "Late Spring and Autumn period."
4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, May 22, 2023) Period One changed from "Early Eastern Zhou dynasty" to "Eastern Zhou dynasty"; Period Two changed from "Late Spring and Autumn period" to "Spring and Autumn period"; Date changed from "ca. 7th-6th century BCE" to ca. 600-476 BCE"; and added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang.

Published References

John Johnston, Chan Lai Pik. 5000 Years of Chinese Jade. Exh. cat. San Antonio, Texas, 2011. cat. 27, p. 62.
C.T. Loo & Company, (Introduction) Lindsay Hughes Cooper. An Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades. Exh. cat. New York. pl. 32, 2.

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Disk (bi) with dragons

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