Object: Ornament in the form of a bovine head S1987.719

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty or Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1100-ca. 1000 BCE

: 牛首形飾
晚商安陽時期或西周（公元前1100-1000年）
中國
軟玉
高3.4、寬3、厚1.3釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.719

Provenance: To 1959
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, NY, and Ridgefield, Connecticut [1]

From 1959 to 1963
Edna H. Bahr (d. 1978), United States and England, acquired by descent from her father, Abel William Bahr

From 1963 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from Edna H. Bahr in 1963 [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] According to information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009.

[2] See #449: "Standing...Grey-green mottled," on list provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009, copy in object file.

[3] 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): Abel William Bahr (1877-1959)
Edna H. Bahr (1907-1986)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: A realistic bovine head with concave back. Carved in almost full relief. Incised eyes and nostrils. (Earth and cinnabar adhere.)

Past label text: 1. (In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.844, S1987.839, S1987.876, S1987.579, S1987.705, S1987.732, S1987.879, S1987.637, S1987.877, S1987.696, S1987.694, S1987.861, S1987.517, S1987.689, S1987.567, S1987.864, S1987.575, S1987.540, and S1987.542)).

Pendant (Pei 珮)
13th–11th centuries BCE
Shang 商 dynasty
China
Jade

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, July 10, 2010) Object name changed from "Pendant: head of buffalo" to "Jewelry"; Title changed from "Pendant (pei 珮): head of a water buffalo" to "Pendant (pei 珮) in the form of the head of a water buffalo."
3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 3, 2020) Title changed from "Pendant (pei) in the form of the head of water buffalo" to "Ornament in the form of a bovine head"; Period One changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty, Anyang period, or Western Zhou dynasty"; Date changed from "ca. 13th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1100-ca. 1000 BCE"; added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang; added Label Text from the exhibition, In Praise of Ancestors by Thomas Lawton; and changed Object name from "Pendant" to "Ornament."
Added the following to the Description field, "A realistic bovine head with concave back. Carved in almost full relief. Incised eyes and nostrils. (Earth and cinnabar adhere.)"

Published References

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Ornament in the form of a bovine head