Arc-shaped pendant, with added decoration

1. (Undated Folder Sheet note) The top segment of this jade plaque is in the form of three squared projections. The lower, interior contours of those three projections conform to the rounded edge of the plaque itself. Decorating the lower portion of the flat surface of the plaque are a stylized bird, with a trapezoidal head and unfurled wings superimposed above two oval eyes and horizontal motifs that can be interpreted as nose and mouth.

Several jade plaques related to the Sackler piece are known. See F1916.511, F1917.380, and an example in the Minneapolis Institute of Art (50.46.230, Na Zhiliang, Chinese Jades: Archaic and Modern from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts [Rutland, VT: C. E. Tuttle, 1977], p. 95, no. 91).

On the basis of recent archaeological finds in the People's Republic of China, jades decorated in this way can be associated with late Neolithic cultures along the eastern coast of China. Hayashi Minao 林巳奈夫 has assembled a large portion of the related archaeological data in two articles published in Museum: "Sen In shiki no gyokki bunka 先殷式の玉器文化 = Patterns on Pre Yin Jades," Museum 334 (1979), pp. 4--16; "Ryōsho bunka no gyokki jakkano megutte 良渚文化の玉器若干をめぐって = Jade of the Liang-chu Culture," Museum 360 (1981), pp. 22--33. See also the more general articles by Julia K. Murray, "Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art," Orientations 14, no. 11 (1983), pp. 14--22, and Wu Hung, "Bird Motifs in Eastern Yi Art," Orientations 16, no. 10 (1985), pp. 34--36.

2. (Thomas Lawton, 1987) Exhibition In Praise of Ancestors label text; moved to label field.

3. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (3300--2250 BCE), Artist (Possibly Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

3. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 29, 2008) Jewelry and Ornament added as secondary classification.

4. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.

5. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2010) Object name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry."

6. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, September 1, 2016) Title changed from "Pendant" to "Arc-shaped pendant, with added decoration"; artist changed from "Possibly Liangzhu culture" to "Probably Liangzhu culture"; geography changed from "Lake Tai region, China" to "Lake Tai region, China, (probably); in the Text Entries field added Chinese translation; added description and past label text.