Object: Pendant in the form of a mask, reworked S1987.680

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

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

Object Date: ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite) with traces of cinnabar

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 5 x 4.3 x 0.5 cm (1 15/16 x 1 11/16 x 3/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.680

: 獸面形飾（二次加工）
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高5、寬4.3、厚0.5釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.680

Provenance: From 1925
C. T. Loo & Co., Paris and New York, from at least 1925 [1]

Mrs. Christian R. (Bettie F.) Holmes (1871-1941), New York and "The Chimneys," Sands Point, Port Washington, Long Island [2]

To 1959
Tonying and Company, New York, to November 25, 1959 [3]

From 1959 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), New York, purchased from Tonying and Company on November 25, 1959 [4]

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

Notes:

[1] See Paul Pelliot, Jades Archaïques de Chine appartenant à M. C .T Loo (Paris and Brussels: G. Van Oest, 1925), pl. XXXII-2.

[2] According to information provided by Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 2009.

[3] See Tonying & Company’s invoice, issued to Arthur M. Sackler, dated November 25, 1959, in which the jade is listed under no. Jo 3: “Archaic Jade Animal Mask / Chou,” copy in object file, provided by Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 2009.

[4] See Tonying & Company’s invoice, citied in note 2.

[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)
Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941)
Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Pendant; mask with low relief carving on one side; pierced; translucent greenish-gray. (Spotty calcification; few nicks.)

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, May 3, 2010) Title changed from "Pendant (pei 珮): mask (taotie 饕餮)" to "Animal mask shaped pendant"; object name from "Pendant: mask (taotie 饕餮)" to "Jewelry." Added "with traces of cinnabar" to medium description.

3. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, May 1, 2012) Late Shang 商 dynasty, Anyang 安陽 period. Title changed to "Pendant in the form of a taotie 饕餮."
4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, September 17, 2019) Title changed from "Pendant in the form of a taotie" to "Pendant in the form of a mask, reworked"; Date changed from "ca. 13th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-1050 BCE"; Geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; Description changed from "Jade (nephrite) with traces of cinnabar" to "Jade with traces of cinnabar"; Object name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry"; and added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang.

Published References

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

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Pendant in the form of a mask, reworked

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